Intervention development
COVID-19 infection
RESPIRATORY DISEASE, COVID-19 INFECTION
The main goal of this intervention was to promote care coordination during lockdown and while social restrictions were in place. It was conducted using a collaborative, pragmatic approach, influenced by Greenhalgh innovation;adopter;assimilation;communication and influence;system antecedents for innovation;system readiness for innovation;outer context;implementation process; andlinkage.The processes involved in intervention development complemented the three steps used by Veterans’ MATES interventions, suited for rapid care coordination (
The patient-specific feedback document (goal setting — for example, schedule appointments to ensure vulnerable patients are still receiving necessary care;prompts — for example, demonstrate why patient is vulnerable, such as medicine dispensing suggesting respiratory disease; andinformation about health consequences — that is, rationale for suggested actions.
The underlying theory was that the provision of personalised recommendations and BCTs in the form of a document delivered directly to a GP’s clinical software would change that GP’s behaviour, influence patient recall, and trigger an early appointment. The BCTs aim to increase motivation and trigger active patient search by the GP.In addition to the intervention material delivered to the healthcare practitioner, all veterans living in the community setting (68 872 individuals) received educational material via the postal service. The material included information about COVID-19 infection prevention, prompting them to maintain regular contact with care providers and to continue to adhere to health plans, as well as how to access care during the pandemic given the expansion of video and telehealth appointments, along with free medicine delivery services for eligible persons. The intervention aimed to promote patient activation and the veteran requesting a GP appointment. The online version of the printed materials is available at the Veterans’ MATES website (