Annals of family medicine
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
Testing to prevent colon cancer: how rural community members took on a community-based intervention.
Participatory research can elevate research relevance and effectiveness. The literature contains few first-hand descriptions of community members engaged in research. ⋯ CAC members participated in all aspects of the research including intervention messaging, survey design, recruitment, implementation, analysis and interpretation of data, and dissemination of results including presentations at national venues and coauthoring manuscripts. Our experience attests to the power of participatory research in efforts to improve health outcomes.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
Multimorbidity in patients attending 2 Australian primary care practices.
Multiple chronic conditions in a single patient can be a challenging health burden. We aimed to examine patterns and prevalence of multimorbidity among patients attending 2 large Australian primary care practices and to estimate disease severity burden using the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS). ⋯ Multimorbidity is a significant problem in men and women across all age-groups, and the moderate severity index increases with age. The musculoskeletal domain was most commonly affected. Mild and moderate severity index categories may underrepresent disease burden. Severity burden assessment in the primary care setting needs to take into account the severity index, as well as levels of domain severity within the index categories.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
Effects of patient-centered medical home attributes on patients' perceptions of quality in federally supported health centers.
We sought to assess patients' ratings of patient-centered medical home (PCMH) attributes and overall quality of care within federally supported health centers. ⋯ More than 80% of patients perceived high quality of care in health centers. PCMH attributes related to access to care and communication were associated with greater likelihood of patients reporting high-quality care.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
Patients' experiences in different models of community health centers in southern China.
Current health care reforms in China have an overall goal of strengthening primary care through the establishment and expansion of primary care networks based on community health centers (CHCs). Implementation in urban areas has led to the emergence of different models of ownership and management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the primary care experiences of patients in the Pearl River Delta as measured by the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) and the relationships with ownership and management in the 3 different models we describe. ⋯ This study suggests that government-owned and -managed CHCs may be able to provide better first-contact care in terms of utilization and coordination of care, and may be better at solving the problem of underutilization of the CHCs as the first-contact point of care, one key problem facing the reforms in China.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2013
Cultivating a cycle of trust with diverse communities in practice-based research: a report from PRIME Net.
Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) are increasingly seen as important vehicles to translate research into practice, although less is known about the process of engaging diverse communities in PBRN research. The objective of this study was to identify strategies for successfully recruiting and retaining diverse racial/ethnic communities into PBRN research studies. ⋯ Our participants suggest that approaches to research that lay a foundation of trust, demonstrate respect for community members, and extend beyond the enrollment and data collection phases are essential to enhance the participation of diverse populations in PBRN research. These findings offer the PBRN community a guide toward achieving this important goal.