Perceptions of older adults in Ontario, Canada on the implementation and impact of a primary care programme, Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: Strengthening Quality (Health TAPESTRY): a descriptive qualitative study

Jenny Ploeg; Ruta Kristina Valaitis; Laura Cleghorn; Marie-Lee Yous; Jessica Gaber; Gina Agarwal; Monika Kastner; Dee Mangin; Doug Oliver; Fiona Parascandalo; Cathy Risdon; Lisa Dolovich

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026257

Perceptions of older adults in Ontario, Canada on the implementation and impact of a primary care programme, Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: Strengthening Quality (Health TAPESTRY): a descriptive qualitative study

BMJ Open. 2019 Jun 14;9(6):e026257. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026257.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
² Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
³ Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ Research and Innovation, North York General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University/McMaster Innovation Park, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore the perceptions of older adults on the implementation and impact of Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: Strengthening Quality (Health TAPESTRY), a multicomponent primary care programme that seeks to improve care coordination for individuals through health-related goal-setting supported by trained lay volunteers who are an extension of an interprofessional team, and the use of technology to support communication among the team.

Design: This study used a qualitative descriptive design.

Setting: The setting for this study was two primary care practice sites located in a large urban area in Ontario, Canada.

Participants: The sample consisted of community-dwelling older adults aged 70 years and older. Participants were recruited from a convenience sample obtained from 360 clients who participated in the 12-month Health TAPESTRY randomised controlled trial.

Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with 32 older adults either face-to-face or by telephone. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using a constant comparative approach to develop themes.

Results: Older adults' perceptions about the Health TAPESTRY programme included (1) the lack of a clear purpose and understanding of how information was shared among providers, (2) mixed positive and negative perceptions of goal-setting and provider follow-up after inhome visits by volunteers, (3) positive impacts such as satisfaction with the primary care team, and (4) the potential for the programme to become a regular programme and applied to other communities and groups.

Conclusions: Older adults living in the community may benefit from greater primary care support provided through enhanced team-based approaches. Programmes such as Health TAPESTRY facilitate opportunities for older adults to work with primary care providers to meet their self-identified needs. By exploring perceptions of clients, primary care programmes can be further refined and expanded for various populations.

Keywords: goal-setting; interprofessional teams; older adults; primary care; qualitative research.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Female
Humans
Independent Living
Interviews as Topic
Male
Ontario
Outcome Assessment, Health Care
Patient Care Team*
Patient Satisfaction*
Primary Health Care*
Qualitative Research
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic