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Poor treatment adherence and self-management are universally recognised as major problems across all illnesses. Research at Kings College London (KCL) has resulted in new ways of assessing, investigating and improving these problems. These are now achieving widespread impact through the highly successful commercial organisation Atlantic Healthcare, which provides medication adherence and patient support programmes on a global scale. These programmes, which are now reaching patients with over 50 major medical conditions in a large number of countries, are very solidly based on the findings from KCL research.
Loughlin's research criticises the drive towards impersonal decision-making procedures across a range of professional practices, aiming to revive approaches placing the cultivation of the virtues, of sound judgement, at the centre of all practical discussion. It has empowered opponents of formalism in management and policy, and scientism in medical practice. This case study concerns Loughlin's identification of the limitations of Evidenced-Based Medicine (EBM), and development of an alternative, evidence-informed approach. Loughlin has communicated his research beyond a narrow academic audience, to a wide range of professional groups, triggering a growing recognition of the need for a humanist, person-centred alternative to EBM. Practitioners and patients alike benefit from the requirement to frame all debates about good practice with reference to the understanding that the parties to the clinical encounter are persons.
Research at Northumbria has identified factors associated with trust in and intention to use Internet based health advice. A model of trust in online advice was published in 2007 that showed the importance of personalised peer-to-peer health messages — this was taken up by the press and broadcast media and led to changes in industry and public health practice around (i) the use of web material as a marketing and consumer tool for big pharma; (ii) the design of contemporary e-health sites; (iii) Government policy on the use of personal patient experience to influence patient choice.
Research in Medical Humanities, including a distinctive input from English Studies, has influenced the working practices of a wide range of individuals and groups, both in the arts and in medicine, at regional, national and international levels. Beneficiaries include medical professionals and writers, artists and museums. The impacts on medical practitioners have been: to influence professional conceptions of medicine, illness and the body; to influence policy and training through collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners; and to alter medical perceptions of consultation in general practice. The impacts on creative work have been: to inspire and promote specific works in creative arts; and to shape the exhibition policy of the Royal College of Surgeons in bringing their art collection to public benefit.
Work led by Professor Nick Barber at the UCL School of Pharmacy showed that a majority of patients have problems soon after starting a new medicine for a chronic condition, and this led to the development of a post-consultation intervention by pharmacists that was shown to be more effective and cheaper than normal care. This entered Department of Health policy for pharmacy in 2008 and Barber helped design the New Medicines Service that was launched in October 2011. This service is offered by community pharmacists in England and by the end of May 2013 over a million patients had received the service. The intervention increases patient adherence to medication, thus improving quality of care, and reducing cost to the NHS from wastage. It also improves patient safety through better identification and resolution of adverse effects.