Adapting and refining the support needs approach for patients to enable delivery of person-centred care to people with progressive conditions in prison
Marie Curie Research Grant Scheme
Duration: 24 months
Duration: 24 months
Researchers
Professor Morag Farquhar
Co-Lead Investigator
University of East Anglia
Dr Carole Gardener
Co-Lead Investigator
University of East Anglia
Lay abstract
Increasing numbers of prisoners have health conditions that worsen over time and shorten life, (eg heart disease and cancer) increasing their need for supportive, palliative, and end of life care.
Prisoners are entitled to the same care as everyone else but can miss out on support needed to live with these conditions. For example, understanding their illness, knowing what to expect and managing symptoms. Best practice involves listening to, and discussing, patients’ views on where they need more support and what might help. This is known as person-centred care. However, former prisoners told us that talking about need can be difficult in prison, and person-centred conversations rarely happen.
To address this, we will adapt and try out an intervention: the Support Needs Approach for Patients (SNAP) that enables person-centred conversations for people outside prison with similar health conditions.
SNAP consists of:
- The SNAP Tool (a brief set of questions to help people consider their support needs).
- A conversation between the patient and clinician about their identified needs and addressing them.
We know SNAP works outside prison. Former prisoners and prison nurses say SNAP could work in prisons, if adapted, and if we found ways to address the potential challenges of prison settings.
We will therefore:
- explore existing research on involving imprisoned patients in conversations about their needs
- adapt the SNAP Tool with imprisoned patients/former prisoners
- ask clinicians, prison staff and imprisoned patients/former prisoners how SNAP might work in prisons
- try the prison-adapted SNAP in two to three prisons
- find the best ways to test the prison-adapted SNAP across a wider range of prisons.
We will share our findings with healthcare professionals, the prison community, commissioners, and policy makers.
Former prisoners (PPI advisors) with long-term health conditions helped develop, and will help deliver, this project.
