Abstract
Background
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a debilitating intestinal condition, manifesting as Crohn’s disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) or indeterminate colitis (IC). The patient experience is impacted by a lack of awareness from other stakeholders despite growing global disease prevalence. To gain deeper insight of the patient experience, promote quality care, and enhance quality of life, we performed a qualitative study of the patient journey starting from pre-diagnosis through treatment.
Methods
U.S. patients with IBD were recruited via UC/CD support groups and organizations, social media platforms, blog followers, and personal networks. Participants were screened via an emailed survey and asked to self-identify as medically diagnosed on the basis of reported diagnostic testing. Interviews were conducted by qualitative researchers by phone or web conferencing. Open-ended questions were developed to support and gather information about our learning objectives—primarily, our desire to understand the unique experiences of UC/CD patients in their journey from symptom onset through diagnosis, treatment and maintenance (e.g. “Upon diagnosis, what were your immediate thoughts about the condition?”). This qualitative data were analyzed using Human-Centered Design methodology, including patient typologies (personas), forced temporal zoom (journey maps), forced semantic zoom (stakeholder system mapping), and affinity mapping for pattern recognition of unmet needs.
Results
A total of 32 patients were interviewed: N=17 CD patients, N=13 UC patients and N=2 IC patients. The interviewed population reflected regional, demographic, and disease-related diversity (Table 1). Five unique, mutually exclusive journeys were identified to understand and classify patient experiences: (1) Journey of Independence, (2) Journey of Acceptance, (3) Journey of Recognition, (4) Journey of Passion and (5) Journey of Determination (Figure 1). Patients with IBD expressed a need for increased awareness, education, and training for providers to shorten the path to diagnosis. Mental health support was found to be a critical gap in care, particularly for major treatment decisions (e.g., surgery). The inclusion of emotional support into the treatment paradigm was perceived as essential to long-term wellness. Patient attitudes and self-advocacy varied on their individual journeys; understanding these journeys may accelerate time to diagnosis and treatment.
Conclusion
Better understanding of patient journeys can help healthcare providers improve their approach to patient care and coordination.
Triage of patient phone calls in inflammatory bowel disease clinic: decreasing the administrative burden and improving the patient experience
