The Leg Club model: a survey of staff and members' perceptions of this model of care.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the Leg Club members' perceptions of the Leg Club as a model for delivery of service.


METHODS
An explorative qualitative approach was used. All members and staff at two Leg Clubs in the UK were invited to participate. They were asked to nominate five key words that described their views of the Leg Club model of care. The researcher and a research supervisor then counted them and decided on categories. Members' themes were verified by 10 randomly chosen Leg Club members and staff themes by five randomly chosen staff.


RESULTS
All of the 85 Leg Club members and 15 staff approached agreed to take part. Categories identified for the Leg Club members were: sociability, enabling, knowledge and experience, interpersonal relationships, caring and quality. Categories identified for Leg Club staff were: camaraderie, education, empowerment, sociability and tiredness.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate that the community Leg Club environment provides benefits in addition to those of guidelines, wound care expertise and evidence-based care. While the small sample size limits the generalisability of these exploratory data, the results identify the positive views of Leg Club members and highlights the need for further research. Similar data is not available for other health care delivery methods, so this also warrants further exploration.
Stephen-Haynes
J
J
Worcestershire Primary Care Trusts and University of Worcester, Stourport Health Centre, Stourport on Severn, Worcestershire, UK. j.stephen-haynes@nhs.net
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010379:Peer Group; D011209:Power, Psychological; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom