Personalised care can counter effects of deprivation

High quality person-centred care can help redress the negative impact of living in socially and economically deprived areas, according to a study in the British Journal of General Practice.

Currently, people living in areas with high poverty are more likely to experience multiple long-term conditions, which develop at a younger age. Despite increased rates of illness, GPs practices in these areas receive no extra resource to manage it. Practices therefore have no choice but to see more people with more problems in less time which results in lower patient enablement.

The study has shown that in areas experiencing high levels of poverty, the wider shared community experiences of belonging (in the community), stigma (outside the community) and the experience of ‘none of the systems working’ influenced engagement in healthcare and self-management.

The researchers, from the University of Glasgow, found that high quality person-centred care, including a trusting relationship with practitioners, continuity of care, power shared equally between patients and clinicians, influenced how people with multiple long-term conditions managed their health, and ‘is a potential untapped resource, not least because it may ameliorate these wider negative community experiences’.

McCallum M, et al. Br J Gen Pract 15 November 2024; https://doi.org/10.3399/BJGP.2024.0286