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Implementing a General Practice-Based Link Worker Intervention for People with Multimorbidity During the Covid-19 Pandemic- a Mixed Methods Process Evaluation of the LinkMM RCT Cover

Implementing a General Practice-Based Link Worker Intervention for People with Multimorbidity During the Covid-19 Pandemic- a Mixed Methods Process Evaluation of the LinkMM RCT

International Journal of Integrated Care
Volume 24 (2024): Issue 4
By: Bridget Kiely,  Ivana Keenan,  Sonali Loomba,  Natalie Mack,  Vivienne Byers,  Emer Galvin,  Muireann O’Shea,  Patrick O’Donnell,  Fiona Boland,  Barbara Clyne,  Eamon O’Shea,  Susan M. Smith and  Deirdre Connolly  
Open Access
|Dec 2024
Figures & tables

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Key components of the intervention.

Table 1

Interview participants profile and interview duration.

PARTICIPANT GROUPnCHARACTERISTICSMEAN INTERVIEW DURATION, [RANGE] MINUTES
Quantitative data sample
Intervention group patients12365% female
43% aged >65
87% GMS card holders
85% met LW at least once, median 3		N/A
One year follow up patient survey6667% female
41% aged >65
81% GMS card holders
58% intervention group
83% met LW at least one, median 2		N/A
Qualitative data sample
Patients
[Quote ID: GPxxPxx]		2569% female
31% aged >65
88% GMS card holders		21 [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39]
Link Workers
[Quote ID: LWxx]		1080% female
Professional background

  • Health promotion [1]

  • Psychology [3]

  • Social care [3]

  • Addiction counselling [3]

68 [55–86]
General Practitioners
[Quote ID: GPxx]		1145% female
All had >10years experience		36 [28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48]
Community Resource Providers
[Quote ID: CRPxx]		8100% female
Organisation type

  • HSE Self-management programme [1]

  • Employment agency [1]

  • Community partnership [5]

  • Women’s group [1]

26 [17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38]

[i] GMS = General Medical Services. The GMS scheme is a means-tested system that provides public medical care to approximately 40% of the Irish population. It provides eligible patients with free GP visits, free hospital care and free medications. HSE = Health Service Executive.

Table 2

Fidelity of implementation.

FIDELITY% [n/N]
First assessment completed85% [102/120]
Goals set80% [82/102]]
Community resources recommended86% [88/102]
Final assessment completed83% [100/120]
Primary goal achieved, Yes51% [41/81]
Number of Goals Set [Median[range]]2 [1–20]
Number of community resources recommended [Median [range]]3 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18]
Number of follow up meetings [Median [range]]3 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21]
Figure 2

Community resource categories recommended by link workers as % of all resources [data from CMD] and used by patients [from the one year follow up survey].

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.8586 | Journal eISSN: 1568-4156
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Language: English
Submitted on: Jan 22, 2024
Accepted on: Dec 5, 2024
Published on: Dec 20, 2024
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year
Keywords:
social prescribing,
multimorbidity,
primary care,
link workers,
process evaluation

© 2024 Bridget Kiely, Ivana Keenan, Sonali Loomba, Natalie Mack, Vivienne Byers, Emer Galvin, Muireann O’Shea, Patrick O’Donnell, Fiona Boland, Barbara Clyne, Eamon O’Shea, Susan M. Smith, Deirdre Connolly, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 24 (2024): Issue 4
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