RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Facilitated group work for people with long-term conditions: a systematic review of benefits from studies of group-work interventions
JF British Journal of General Practice
JO Br J Gen Pract
FD British Journal of General Practice
SP e363
OP e372
DO 10.3399/bjgp19X702233
VO 69
IS 682
A1 Margaret Jackson
A1 Daniel Jones
A1 Judith Dyson
A1 Una Macleod
YR 2019
UL http://bjgp.org/content/69/682/e363.abstract
AB Background About 15.4 million people in the UK live with a long-term condition. Of the health and social care spend, 70% is invested in caring for this population. Evidence suggests that group-work interventions offer patient support, improved outcomes, and reduce the costs of care.Aim To review the current evidence base examining the effectiveness of group work in long-term physical disease where such groups are facilitated by healthcare professionals.Design and setting Systematic review and narrative synthesis of studies of group-work interventions led by health professionals for adults with specified long-term illnesses.Method MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Cochrane databases were systematically searched using terms relating to group work and long-term conditions. Studies were included if they were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with a control group that did not include group work.Results The 14 included studies demonstrated a high degree of heterogeneity in terms of participant characteristics, interventions, and outcome measures and were of varying quality. The studies demonstrated some statistically significant improvements in pain, psychological outcomes, self-efficacy, self-care, and quality of life resulting from intervention.Conclusion This review demonstrates significant benefits resulting from group participation, in adults with long-term disease. Results were mixed and some benefits were short-lived. Nevertheless, these results suggest that group work should be more widely used in the management and support of adults with long-term illness. There is a need for larger and better-quality studies to explore this potentially important area further.