Understanding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care experiences of people with mental-physical multimorbidity: protocol for a mixed methods study

Menear, M. et al. (2023) Understanding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care experiences of people with mental-physical multimorbidity: protocol for a mixed methods study. BMC Primary Care, 24(1), 154. (doi: 10.1186/s12875-023-02106-5) (PMID:37488515) (PMCID:PMC10364355)

Abstract

Background: Primary care and other health services have been disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the consequences of these service disruptions on patients’ care experiences remain largely unstudied. People with mental-physical multimorbidity are vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic, and to sudden service disruptions. It is thus essential to better understand how their care experiences have been impacted by the current pandemic. This study aims to improve understanding of the care experiences of people with mental-physical multimorbidity during the pandemic and identify strategies to enhance these experiences. Methods: We will conduct a mixed-methods study with multi-phase approach involving four distinct phases. Phase 1 will be a qualitative descriptive study in which we interview individuals with mental-physical multimorbidity and health professionals in order to explore the impacts of the pandemic on care experiences, as well as their perspectives on how care can be improved. The results of this phase will inform the design of study phases 2 and 3. Phase 2 will involve journey mapping exercises with a sub-group of participants with mental-physical multimorbidity to visually map out their care interactions and experiences over time and the critical moments that shaped their experiences. Phase 3 will involve an online, cross-sectional survey of care experiences administered to a larger group of people with mental disorders and/or chronic physical conditions. In phase 4, deliberative dialogues will be held with key partners to discuss and plan strategies for improving the delivery of care to people with mental-physical multimorbidity. Pre-dialogue workshops will enable us to synthesize an prepare the results from the previous three study phases. Discussion: Our study results will generate much needed evidence of the positive and negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care experiences of people with mental-physical multimorbidity and shed light on strategies that could improve care quality and experiences.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), grant number 202010PJM-455766-HS2-CFBA-161869 and by a Junior 1 Award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS) awarded to the first author. Funding for MAVIPAN comes from discretionary funds from the four research centres of the Quebec Integrated University Health and Social Services Center, CIUSSS de la Capitale -Nationale: VITAM Research Center on Sustainable Health, University Center for Research on Youth and Families (CRUJeF), Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation and Social Integration (Cirris), CERVO Brain Research Center.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mair, Professor Frances
• Authors: Menear, M., Duhoux, A., Bédard, M., Paquette, J.-S., Baron, M., Breton, M., Courtemanche, S., Dubé, S., Dufour, S., Fortin, M., Girard, A., Larouche-Côté, É., L’Espérance, A., LeBlanc, A., Poitras, M.-E., Rivet, S., Sasseville, M., Achim, A., Archambault, P., Bajurny, V., Brown, J. B., Carrier, J.-D., Côté, N., Couturier, Y., Dogba, M. J., Gagnon, M.-P., Ghio, S. C., Marshall, E. G., Kothari, A., Lussier, M.-T., Mair, F. S., Smith, S., Vachon, B., and Wong, S.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > General Practice and Primary Care
• Journal Name: BMC Primary Care
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• ISSN: 2731-4553
• ISSN (Online): 2731-4553
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © The Author(s) 2023
• First Published: First published in BMC Primary Care 24(1):154
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence