As part of a continuing research project with our colleagues in the Department of General Practice in University College Cork, we are seeking volunteers to help trial our new GP Consultation Guide.
General Practitioners have an important role to play in supporting the healthcare needs of people living with a long-term condition such as epilepsy. However, there is considerable pressure on GP services across the country.
With this in mind, the Sláintecare funded research project between Epilepsy Ireland and University College Cork further investigated the relationship between people with established epilepsy and their GPs. As part of this process, through interviews with people with epilepsy and GPs alike, there was enthusiasm expressed by people and GPs alike to develop a patient held consultation guide for people with epilepsy, to help aid them with discussions about their condition with their GP; and equally, to help GPs to be aware of aspects of a person’s condition to be conscious of.
This led to the development of the GP Consultation Guide – which is available for download at the end of this article.
With the guide now developed, the research has now entered a new phase and the research team are now seeking to learn more about how the guide has been utilised in the community – and measure the effectiveness of the guide. For, this we need YORU help and a commitment to using the guide in your consultations with your GP.
The research will span across a period of 12 months and will involve you being contacted by the research team to discuss your use of the guide. The below is a general guide of how this will take place:
- Start: Initial Interview and/or focus group discussion
- 3 Months: Follow up to see if you are using the guide
- 6 Months: Follow up call/teams meeting/face to face meeting to review use of the guide
- 9 Months: Follow up email to see if you are using the guide
- 12 Months: Completion interview and/or focus group discussion
While the research does take place across the course of a year, it is not expected that it will be time intensive. If you would be interested in taking part in this important research, which aims to increase pathways of care between people with epilepsy and their local GPs, please contact Dr. Cormac Sheehan by emailing cormac.sheehan@ucc.ie. Dr. Sheehan can also answer any questions you might have regarding the research and your potential participation in this aspect of the project.
Thank you in advance for taking part in this important research and if you would like to learn more about it, visit the ‘For GPs’ section of our website.