Patient and organizational factors related to education and support use by Veterans with Parkinson's disease.
Patient education and support services are recognized in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as important to the patient-centered treatment of Parkinson's disease. Indeed, educating patients is one of the missions of the VA's six specialty Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Centers (PADRECCs). We compared VA education/support services utilization by whether or not a patient's VA Medical Center (VAMC) contained a PADRECC. Our sample included Parkinson's disease patients from VAMCs with (n = 882) and without (n = 1,448) PADRECCs. Patients completed surveys that asked about demographic/individual characteristics, health status/function, and education/support utilization. Results showed that 15.8% (n = 354) of all patients utilized education/support services. Patients at PADRECC VAMCs were generally healthier and more educated than other VAMC patients. After statistically controlling for these differences, however, being a patient at a PADRECC VAMC site and using only VA providers (as compared to a combination of VA and non-VA providers) were significant predictors of education/support utilization. Further, proportionally more PADRECC VAMC site patients reported higher satisfaction and receiving a broad range of information from different modalities as compared to other VAMC patients. These findings suggest that PADRECC VAMCs are providing educational/support activities consistent with these specialty centers' goals.
Pogoda
Terri K
TK
Center for Organization, Leadership and Management Research, Department of Veterans Affairs, 150 South Huntington Avenue (152M), Boston, MA 02130, USA. terri.pogoda@va.gov
Cramer
Irene E
IE
Meterko
Mark
M
Lin
Hai
H
Hendricks
Ann
A
Holloway
Robert G
RG
Charns
Martin P
MP
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D006268:Health Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D058016:Health Facility Administration; D006304:Health Status; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014728:Veterans; D055815:Young Adult