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Table 1 Semi-structured interview guide for patients and patient representatives

From: Conceptualising patient empowerment: a mixed methods study

Topic

Question

Probes

Patient outcomes

1) What difficulties have you (or the people you represent) experienced in your/their everyday/family life due to this condition?

- What were you/they not able to do in your/their day-to-day life because of the condition?

2) If you think about a time when you (or the people you represent) used the primary care service, what benefits did they get from this?

- How did the condition limit what you/they could do, and how did the care you/they received make a difference to that?

3) What do you think people are looking for when they see the GP/use primary care services? What do they want to get out of it?

- In what way(s) was your/their life improved afterwards?

- What helped you/them to get what you/they needed/wanted?

- What prevented you/them them from getting what you/they needed/wanted?

4) Has anything changed for you/your family/the patients you represent as a result of your/their use of primary care services?

- Can you say more about what those improvements are?

5) Are there any ways in which your life/your family life/the family lives of the patients you represent became more difficult following your/their use of primary care services?

- Can you say more about what those difficulties are?

Patient empowerment as a measurable outcome

6) What does the term “patient empowerment” mean to you?

- Please describe health interventions or health services that promote patient empowerment.

7) Would a patient questionnaire capturing the degree of patient empowerment be useful to assess the quality of primary care services?

- What sorts of practical things would make it hard to use a patient questionnaire capturing patient empowerment effectively to assess the quality of primary care services?

- What sorts of practical things would support use of such a questionnaire?