Patient centred care for fibromyalgia (PACFIND)

Disease - Fibromyalgia

Lead applicant - Professor Gary Macfarlane

Organisation - University of Aberdeen

Type of grant - Health Services Research

Status of grant - Active

Amount of the original award - £1,185,670.91

Start date - 1 February 2019

Reference - 21958

Public Summary

What are the aims of this research?

The aim of this research is to improve healthcare services for patients with fibromyalgia. The hope is to provide a timely diagnosis, which can currently take many years, and ensure everyone will have access to effective treatments, ultimately leading to better outcomes for patients.

Why is this research important?

Fibromyalgia is a common, long term condition causing symptoms of widespread pain, fatigue and sleep disturbance. Once diagnosed, there is limited evidence available on how to organise health services to deliver recommended treatments to people with fibromyalgia. Therefore, patients can feel dissatisfied with current services and believe that no-one is willing to take responsibility for their care.

The researchers will gather information from patients and their healthcare records about how they currently use health services and their experiences. They will also work with health and social care professionals to understand how the services are currently organised and the availability of care for patients with fibromyalgia. From this insight, they will identify what better care for patients with fibromyalgia looks like and estimate the benefits and costs of existing and proposed alternative care models.

How will the findings benefit patients?

By the end of the study the researchers will have developed a new model of care for people with fibromyalgia, prioritising according to what people with fibromyalgia think is important. They will propose and test a new cost-effective care model that ensures better outcomes for patients and develop a plan for how the service can be put in place to ensure higher levels of patient satisfaction.