Promoting a sense of security in everyday life—A case study of patients and professionals moving towards co-production in an atrial fibrillation “learning café”

Abstract

Background: An improvement initiative sought to improve care for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients; many felt insecure about how to cope with AF. Objective: To reveal AF patients' and professionals' experiences of pilot-testing a Learning Café group education programme, aimed at increasing the patients' sense of security in everyday life. Design: Using an organizational case study design, we combined quantitative data (patients' sense of security) and qualitative data (project documentation; focus group interviews with five patients and five professionals) analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis. Setting: AF patients and a multiprofessional team at a cardiac care unit in a Swedish district hospital. Improvement activities: Two registered nurses invited AF patients and partners to four 2.5-hour Learning Café sessions. In the first session, they solicited participants' questions about life with AF. A physician, a registered nurse and a physiotherapist were invited to address these questions in the remaining sessions. Results: AF patients reported gaining a greater sense of security in everyday life and anticipating a future shift from emergency care to planned care. Professionals reported enhanced professional development, learning more about person-centredness and gaining greater control of their own work situation. The organization gained knowledge about patient and family involvement. Conclusions: The Learning Café pilot test—exemplifying movement towards co-production through patient-professional collaboration—generated positive outcomes for patients (sense of security), professionals (work satisfaction; learning) and the organization (better care) in line with contemporary models for quality improvement and with Self-Determination Theory. This approach merits further testing and evaluation in other contexts.