Costs and difficulties of recruiting patients to provide e-health support: pilot study in one primary care trust

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Better use of e-health services by patients could improve outcomes and reduce costs but there are concerns about inequalities of access. Previous research in outpatients suggested that anonymous personal email support may help patients with long term conditions to use e-health, but recruiting earlier in their 'journey' may benefit patients more. This pilot study explored the feasibility and cost of recruiting patients for an e-health intervention in one primary care trust.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The sample comprised 46 practices with total patient population of 250,000. We approached all practices using various methods, seeking collaboration to recruit patients via methods agreed with each practice. A detailed research diary was kept of time spent recruiting practices and patients. Researcher time was used to estimate costs. Patients who consented to participate were offered email support for their use of the Internet for health.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eighteen practices agreed to take part; we recruited 27 patients, most (23/27) from five practices. Practices agreed to recruit patients for an e-health intervention via waiting room leaflets (16), posters (16), practice nurses (15), doctors giving patients leaflets (5), a study website link (7), inclusion in planned mailshots (2), and a special mailshot to patients selected from practice computers (1). After low recruitment response we also recruited directly in five practices through research assistants giving leaflets to patients in waiting rooms. Ten practices recruited no patients. Those practices that were more difficult to recruit were less likely to recruit patients. Leaving leaflets for practice staff to distribute and placing posters in the practice were not effective in recruiting patients. Leaflets handed out by practice nurses and website links were more successful. The practice with lowest costs per patient recruited (£70) used a special mailshot to selected patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Recruitment via general practice was not successful and was therefore expensive. Direct to consumer methods and recruitment of patients in outpatients to offer email support may be more cost effective. If recruitment in general practice is required, contacting practices by letter and email, not following up non-responding practices, and recruiting patients with selected conditions by special mailshot may be the most cost-effective approach.</p

Actores y percepción de las causas del botellón

El botellón es, hoy por hoy, la práctica juvenil que mayor controversia despierta en la sociedad, habida cuenta del tratamiento que los medios de comunicación hacen de él y de la atención que ha despertado por parte de la clase política. Pero la información que existe sobre el fenómeno es muy fragmentada, cuando menos, y con opiniones que no siempre provienen de los sectores sociales directamente implicados. Aquí presentamos la opinión que los jóvenes y sus padres tienen acerca del origen del botellón, y a quién atribuyen la responsabilidad del problema.Gaur egun, gizartean eztabaidarik handiena sortzen duen gazte praktika dugu botellón delakoa, kontuan harturik komunikabideek horri emandako tratamendua eta klase politikoaren aldetik sortu duen arreta. Alabaina, fenomeno horretaz guztiz informazio zatikatua dago, gutxienez, eta iritziak ez datoz beti zuzen inplikaturik dauden gizarte sektoreetatik. Gazteek eta haien gurasoek botellón horretaz duten iritzia eta nori egozten dioten arazoaren erantzukina aurkezten dugu lan honetan.Le «botellón» (grande bouteille) est, de nos jours, la pratique juvénile qui réveille le plus de controverse dans la société, en tenant compte du traitement que les moyens de communication en font et de l'attention que lui ont prêtée la classe politique. Mais l'information qui existe sur le phénomène est au moins très fragmentée et avec des opinions qui ne proviennent pas toujours des secteurs sociaux directement impliqués. Nous présentons ici l'opinion que les jeunes et leurs parents ont sur l'origine du «botellón», et auquel ils attribuent la responsabilité du problème.Drinking in the street is now the juvenile practice that generates the most controversy in society, bearing in mind the attention paid to it by the media and the attention that it has aroused among politicians. But the information that exists on the phenomenon is very fractional, at best, and with opinions that do not always originate from the directly involved social sectors. Here we present the opinion that young people and their parents have about the origin of this practice, and who they attribute the responsibility for the problem to

Optical phonons of strained GaAs/GaP quantum wells studied by Raman spectroscopy

We have studied the optical phonons of GaAs quantum wells strained to GaP. The phonon frequencies have been measured by Raman spectroscopy. The results have been compared with calculations based on the linear chain model and the random isoamplitude model. The comparison suggests a certain degree of atomic intermixing at the interfaces, mainly due to a limited but measurable arsenic carry-over during growth.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish CICYT under project No. MAT95-0966-c02-01 and by the Human Capital and Mobility project HYPOCRATESPeer reviewe

Raman response of (11N)-oriented GaAs/AlAs superlattices within the framework of the bond polarizability model

The Raman response of (11N)-oriented GaAs/AlAs superlattices is studied within the framework of the bond polarizability model. We focus our attention on the cases of the (110), (111) and (112) orientations. We discuss the role that the mode mixing, the interface contribution and the lack of parity play in the Raman response. Analytical expressions for the Raman intensities are presented.Peer Reviewe

Contrôle de l'élaboration des thyristors par thermocapacitance : caractérisation de centres recombinants induits

Nous appliquons la thermocapacitance et la méthode des transitoires de capacité dans l'obscurité aux dispositifs de puissance au silicium. Nous utilisons ces méthodes pour caractériser les niveaux d'énergie profonds induits à chaque étape de la fabrication de thyristors. Nous trouvons trois niveaux à Ec — (160 ± 5) meV, Ec — (257 ± 4) meV et Ec — (542 ± 4) meV. Le second et le troisième niveau sont associés à des centres recombinants induits par la trempe (Quenched-in centers)

Experimental observation of conductance transients in Al/SiNx:H/Si metal-insulator-semiconductor structures

Room temperature conductance transients in the SiNx:H/Si interface are reported. Silicon nitride thin films were directly deposited on silicon by the low temperature electron-cyclotron-resonance plasma method. The shape of the conductance transients varies with the frequency at which they are obtained. This behavior is explained in terms of a disorder-induced gap-state continuum model for the interfacial defects. A perfect agreement between experiment and theory is obtained proving the validity of the model. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics