Abstract
ObjectivesTo analyse the process and impact of confronting multidisciplinary teams (MTs) in primary care with the experiences of frail older patients through mirror meetings (MMs), with the aim of supporting teams to organize care in a more patient‐oriented way.MethodsProcess and impact analyses were performed using a mixed‐method approach. MMs were held with 14 frail older patients and four MTs comprising 23 health‐care professionals (HCPs) in primary care in the Netherlands.ResultsMirror meetings were feasible for frail older people living at home, although their recruitment was time‐consuming. Interaction between the patients was scarce, but they valued the opportunity to share their stories. HCPs preferred MMs overwritten reports about patient experiences. An impact analysis revealed four dominant professional areas for improvement: improve alignment with patient goals, improved communication with patients both orally and in writing, developing new pathways to connect with informal caregivers and an increased understanding that most HCPs are relative strangers to their patients.ConclusionsMirror meetings are a relatively simple and promising method for exploring the ways in which frail older patients experience care.Practice implicationsGiven the right conditions, MMs could result in valuable processes to enable MTs to improve their working methods.
Highlights
A growing number of frail older people live in the community.[1]
Despite the fact that patient participation is high on the public agenda, studies have shown that multidisciplinary networks and teams often operate from a professional perspec‐ tive,[9,10] while patient perspectives are rarely anchored in the de‐ sign and working method of multidisciplinary teams (MTs).[11]
We found that health‐ care professionals (HCPs) want to increase the consideration given to pa‐ tient perspectives in the organization of their care, but are unsure how to realize this.[22,23,24]
Summary
A growing number of frail older people live in the community.[1]. Frailty is defined as the accumulation of functional deficits and di‐ minishing physiological reserves.[2]. Studies into interprofessional collaboration have largely focussed on the viewpoint of the professionals[12,13,14,15] or on more quantitative patient outcomes.[16,17,18] Researchers are hesitant to ask frail older people to participate in such studies due to their vulnerable state,[19] which means that little is known about the experiences of these patients regarding their multidisciplinary care teams.[20,21] In a previous study, we found that HCPs want to increase the consideration given to pa‐ tient perspectives in the organization of their care, but are unsure how to realize this.[22,23,24]
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