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PS3-21: Making the Most of Your Healthcare Appointments Intervention for Older Adults

Background and Aim: Active engagement in healthcare can foster healthy behaviors and promote health, especially among older adults dealing with the complexities of managing comorbid chronic illnesses. This study tested the efficacy of an intervention for increasing patient engagement and improving health-related quality of life among older adults with multiple chronic illnesses. Method: The intervention, Making the Most of Your Healthcare, uses evidence-based behavior change techniques to deliver publicly available patient education materials. We report the results of a three-group randomized controlled study conducted in a primary care setting. Seventy-nine participants were assigned to the intervention group, an attention control group, or usual care. The intervention and attention control groups attended a two-hour workshop and participated in two phone calls; one before and one after a naturally-occurring medical encounter. The intervention group’s contacts were on patient engagement and the attention control group contacts were on general safety. Self-report measures were gathered by telephone interviews at baseline and six-months following baseline. Results: Differences were not found for patient activation, self-reported health or unhealthy days in the past month. The treatment group showed improved self-efficacy for self-management following intervention. Conclusions: Contrary to expectations, patient activation scores improved for both the treatment and usual care groups but not the attention control group. These initial findings suggest potential benefits for short-term, low-intensity patient engagement interventions. The intervention can be refined based on participant feedback. Additional testing is required to determine whether changed in patient activation with a refined intervention are possible.