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. 2021 May 19;21(1):474.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-021-06459-4.

Understanding what matters most to patients in acute care in seven countries, using the flash mob study design

Eva S van den Ende #  1 , Bo Schouten #  2 , Marjolein N T Kremers  3   4 , Tim Cooksley  5 , Chris P Subbe  6   7 , Immo Weichert  8 , Louise S van Galen  1 , Harm R Haak  3   4   9 , John Kellett  10 , Jelmer Alsma  11 , Victoria Siegrist  12   13 , Mark Holland  14 , Erika F Christensen  15   16 , Colin A Graham  17 , Ling Yan Leung  17 , Line E Laugesen  10 , Hanneke Merten  2 , Fraz Mir  18 , Rachel M Kidney  19 , Mikkel Brabrand #  10   20 , Prabath W B Nanayakkara #  21 , Christian H Nickel #  13 ; all local collaborators
Collaborators, Affiliations

Understanding what matters most to patients in acute care in seven countries, using the flash mob study design

Eva S van den Ende et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Truly patient-centred care needs to be aligned with what patients consider important, and is highly desirable in the first 24 h of an acute admission, as many decisions are made during this period. However, there is limited knowledge on what matters most to patients in this phase of their hospital stay. The objective of this study was to identify what mattered most to patients in acute care and to assess the patient perspective as to whether their treating doctors were aware of this.

Methods: This was a large-scale, qualitative, flash mob study, conducted simultaneously in sixty-six hospitals in seven countries, starting November 14th 2018, ending 50 h later. One thousand eight hundred fifty adults in the first 24 h of an acute medical admission were interviewed on what mattered most to them, why this mattered and whether they felt the treating doctor was aware of this.

Results: The most reported answers to "what matters most (and why)?" were 'getting better or being in good health' (why: to be with family/friends or pick-up life again), 'getting home' (why: more comfortable at home or to take care of someone) and 'having a diagnosis' (why: to feel less anxious or insecure). Of all patients, 51.9% felt the treating doctor did not know what mattered most to them.

Conclusions: The priorities for acutely admitted patients were ostensibly disease- and care-oriented and thus in line with the hospitals' own priorities. However, answers to why these were important were diverse, more personal, and often related to psychological well-being and relations. A large group of patients felt their treating doctor did not know what mattered most to them. Explicitly asking patients what is important and why, could help healthcare professionals to get to know the person behind the patient, which is essential in delivering patient-centred care.

Trial registration: NTR (Netherlands Trial Register) NTR7538 .

Keywords: Acute care; Emergency medicine; Patient-centred care; Patient-physician communication; Quality of care; Research methods; What matters most.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf (available on request from the corresponding author) and declare: no support from any organization for the submitted work, no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous 3 years, no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Patients included and excluded in analysis
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Word cloud of ‘what matters most’
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Word cloud of ‘Why does this matters most’
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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