Measuring patient engagement: which healthcare engagement behaviours are important to patients?

AIM(S): This study identified patient healthcare engagement behaviours that are important to community-dwelling adult patients living in the southern region of the USA.

BACKGROUND: Patient engagement has been identified as a key driver for containing healthcare costs, but the public and healthcare professionals lack a scientific understanding of patient engagement. A valid tool is needed for prompting patients to discuss health activities with their healthcare providers and to obtain support.

DESIGN: This exploratory cross-sectional survey study used a quantitative research design. It was conducted in seven senior centres in the southern region of the USA in 2015.

METHODS: This project used convenience sampling to recruit subjects. Subjects were community-dwelling adult patients older than 18 years and living in the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee. Individuals who had taken the survey previously were excluded. The survey tool, Patient Involvement Behaviors in Health Care, was developed by the authors and used for data collection.

RESULTS: Ninety-two participants completed or partially completed the survey. The response rate was 74·8%. Among the 51 identified behaviours, 17 were identified as being important by less than 95% of participants; eight of these 17 behaviours were important to less than 90% of participants.

CONCLUSIONS: We identified 34 behaviours that at least 95% of the participants indicated were important. Nurses may use this tool to help individual patients identify engagement behaviours that are important to them, to respect their personal preferences and thus improve their engagement in health care.