Spreading self-management support: NHS Ayrshire and Arran

As part of its earlier work through the Health Foundation's Co-creating Health programme, NHS Ayrshire and Arran has already implemented a model of self-management support in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.

Clinicians have been helped to incorporate self-management techniques, such as shared agenda setting and motivational interviewing, into their routine practice. Patients are also supported to become more confident, active partners in their health care and encouraged to use resources in the wider community, like ongoing voluntary-sector peer support groups.

The organisation is now rolling out the same approach for other conditions, including blood-borne viruses. The team are:

• Using a patient self-management toolkit designed to support patients with any long-term condition.
• Using an e-learning module for clinicians.
• Training lay people and clinical staff who want to become co-facilitators for these two programmes.
• Training volunteer buddies, as part of a new buddy support scheme.
• Integrating self-management support with a number of other programmes within the organisation, focusing on telehealthcare, person-centred care, and transforming outpatient services.

The organisation is now working to ensure that its existing achievements are sustained, integrated and become more widely spread. A key priority is to enable a cultural shift, in order to help patients, carers, the public and staff to alter their perceptions, beliefs and expectations about health care. It will also continue to measure the impact of this work on health services and people’s health and quality of life, to see what difference it can make.