Supporting People to Live Well with Multiple Long-Term Conditions (SPELL)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Supporting People to Live Well with Multiple Long-Term Conditions (SPELL)
IRAS ID
311163
Contact name
Rachel Johnson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol Research Governance Team Research & Enterprise Division
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 10 days
Research summary
One in two people over the age of 50 have more than one long term health condition (multiple long-term conditions or MLTC). People with MLTC put a lot of effort into managing their medicines and healthcare appointments – this is called treatment burden. This study focuses on people aged 18-65 years. If we understand people’s experiences, we might be able to design better services to meet their needs. It would also be helpful to have a short questionnaire to identify people who might need more support with treatment burden.
We want to find out how health care services can support people with MLTC and reduce their treatment burden. We will do this in three ways:
GPs will invite people with MLTC to take part in an interview with a researcher, either by phone, video, or face to face. The interview will ask about what it is like to live with MLTC, and their experiences of treatment burden.
GPs will invite people with MLTC to complete a questionnaire about their experiences of treatment burden and primary care. These people will also be asked if they agree to the researchers accessing some information from their medical records.
In addition to the research work, we will hold a series of stakeholder meetings with people with MLTC, GPs and people who organise GP services, to talk about what we have found and make recommendations to improve care.
We will make efforts to include people from minority ethnic groups and those who have difficulties in accessing health care. We will work with local community groups and translate study materials into different languages. People with MLTC who take part in the study will receive a voucher to thank them for taking part. We have set up a patient and public involvement (PPI) group which will be involved throughout the study.
REC name
London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/PR/1750
Date of REC Opinion
9 Feb 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion