Over 15 million people in England live with at least one long-term condition (Department of Health, 2005). This number is expected to rise, as is the number of people with multiple conditions. Long-term conditions (LTCs) typically cannot be cured but need to be managed over long periods of time, and may involve care from both health and social services.

It is a key government priority to assess and improve outcomes in LTCs (Department of Health, 2013a,b). Traditional clinical outcome indicators such as mortality or improvements in physical health may not be informative enough to monitor outcomes in LTCs. With LTCs, where care is likely to be more complex, there is a need to move beyond more traditional domains of health outcomes and to shift to patient-centred outcomes. One useful way to measure patient-centred outcomes is to look at what is important to patients directly.

With the movement in health and social care services towards integrated care, a new questionnaire applicable across LTCs (physical and mental health) is needed.

We are conducting an exciting new research study as a collaboration between the PSSRU and the University of Oxford that involves validating the newly-developed 20-item self-reported Long-Term Conditions Questionnaire (LTCQ). We aim to explore whether the LTCQ is appropriate for use among people with different long-term conditions, including those who receive social services. The objectives of the study include identifying the factor structure of the LTCQ as an outcome measure for LTCs, potentially reduce the number of items in the LTCQ, assess whether the LTCQ is valid for use in people with LTCs, and to assess whether the LTCQ is a reliable measure. Participants are being recruited through both primary care and social care services.

There are two surveys used for recruitment for this study: the primary care survey and the social care survey. The primary care survey involves recruiting people with a range of long-term conditions through primary care practices. This part of the study will be conducted by the University of Oxford.

The social care survey involves recruiting people with long-term conditions who receive social services. This part of the study will be conducted by the PSSRU team at the University of Kent. For this part of the study, local authorities will be invited to recruit individuals with long-term conditions who receive social services. We are now at the stage of recruiting local authorities to take part in this study.

If you are interested in becoming involved or would like to receive further information with regards to the social care survey, send me (Laurie) an email and I’ll be in touch!

Contact: Laurie on 01227 816166 or l.batchelder@kent.ac.uk

Disclaimer: The views expressed on this website are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

References

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 2005. Supporting people with long term conditions: An NHS and social care model to support local innovation and intergration. In: HEALTH, D. O. (ed.). London.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 2013a. The Adult Social Care Framework 2014/15. In: HEALTH, D. O. (ed.). London.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 2013b. The NHS Outcomes Framework 2014/15. In: HEALTH, D. O. (ed.). London.

Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) have developed since their initial introduction into routine use in April 2009 for assessing the outcome and quality of care in the NHS in England for four elective procedures, to being included as part of the NHS Outcomes framework since April 2013 with plans to expand the use of PROMs to additional surgical procedures, to long-term conditions, to mental health care and to dementia care.

This conference will focus on how we can get more value from the large amount of data that is collected. Aimed at researchers, information scientists, clinicians, those involved in quality assessment (national clinical audits), and policy-makers, the conference will:

explore the expansion of PROMs to additional surgical procedures, to long-term conditions, to mental health care and to dementia care
bring together researchers already involved in PROMs and others interested in contributing to hear about current work and to consider the future research agenda
discuss opportunities for greater international collaboration.
This conference is the third annual research conference held on this subject – jointly organised by The King’s Fund and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – and it will draw together researchers already involved and others interested in contributing to hear about current work and to consider the future research agenda.

In addition to learning about recent and current research in England, similar developments in the USA and Spain will be discussed.

For more information, and to register, please visit The King’s Fund.

QORU seminar: Using information on quality and outcomes to improve decision-making about care

24 March 2014, 13.30 – 15.30

Venue: London School of Economics and Political Science, Tower 1, G.01

Health and social care policy emphasises ‘outcomes’. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMS) and measures of social care-related quality of life are collected. But can we use these outcome indicators to best effect? What other information do we need to interpret them?

This Department of Health-funded policy Research Unit in Quality and Outcomes of person-centred care (QORU) seminar brings together interested parties to discuss the use of ‘outcome’ data in practice, and what is needed to ensure that policy-makers and practitioners have access to useful information in the future.

Presentations

• Online reviews and care, Lisa Trigg, PSSRU at LSE
• Use of quality information in decisions about accommodation and support for people with learning disability or autism, Julie Beadle-Brown and Agnes Turnpenny, Tizard, University of Kent
• Is outcomes-based management and policy-making a reality for local government? Juliette Malley, Clara Heath and Kamilla Razik, PSSRU at Kent
• How can we make best use of quality and outcomes information? Facilitated discussion / Q&A, Angela Coulter, University of Oxford

The seminar is free to attend but places are limited. Please register by emailing Amanda Burns: a.l.burns@kent.ac.uk or phoning 01227 823862

PDF download of the event flyer.

A recording of today’s webinar “Measuring Social Care Outcomes” is available here, or is viewable below.