Patient Activation Through Community Paramedicine – Initial Assessment and Future Directions

Abstract

Community paramedicine (CP) is an evolving concept that promises to expand the role of emergency medical services to support patients beyond the conventional emergency activation. Community paramedics engage in a variety of activities during visits to patient homes including post hospital discharge follow up, medication reconciliation and monitoring of health parameters such as body weight and blood pressure. As CP programs develop, it is important to have a mechanism by which to measure their success. Patient activation is a holistic concept that describes a patient’s ownership of his or her health and healthcare. The survey based Patient Activation Measure (PAM) is a quantitative means to assess a patient’s level of activation. Is it possible that participation in a CP program could increase patient activation, which in turn could act to describe the success of the CP intervention? This study analyzed data derived from a PAM survey used in association with a CP program at Buckeye Fire Department in Buckeye, Arizona. It was expected that patient activation would increase among patients participating in the program. A clear correlation was not found however several insights were gained which hold promise to better define a future study.