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Australian Journal of Primary Health Australian Journal of Primary Health Society
The issues influencing community health services and primary health care
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Predictors of Patient Enablement: The Role of Doctors' Helpgiving Style, Patient and Visit Characteristics

Tanya A. Simmons and Helen R. Winefield

Australian Journal of Primary Health 8(3) 39 - 46
Published: 2002

Abstract

Patient enablement is a possible outcome of primary health care consultations and has been employed as a marker of effective helpgiving. We studied predictors of patient enablement, investigating the relative contribution of patient characteristics (gender, age, occupational status, and perceived health status), visit characteristics (length of consultation, duration of physician-patient relationship, and frequency of consultations), and the physician's reported helpgiving style (level of encouragement of patient participation in the consultation). The Helpgiving Practices Scale and Patient Enablement Instrument were completed by 103 patients from eight metropolitan general practices. Patients with better perceived health status and lower occupational status felt more enabled following their consultations. Frequency of consultations employed as a measure of "knowing a doctor well" was also significantly associated with post-consultation enablement. General practitioners' encouragement of patients to participate in their health care then added significantly to the explained variance in patient enablement. Results of this study indicate that the Patient Enablement Instrument is a useful measure of quality of care with scores being less positively skewed than those of frequent employed satisfaction measures.

https://doi.org/10.1071/PY02042

© La Trobe University 2002

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