A randomised trial of the Flinders Program to improve patient self-management competencies in a range of chronic conditions: study rationale and protocol

Abstract

Supporting self management is seen as an important health service strategy in dealing with the large and increasing health burden of chronic conditions. Several types of self-management programs are available. Evidence to date suggests that disease-specific and lay-led self management programs provide only part of the support needed for improved outcomes. The Flinders Program is promising as a generic self management intervention, which can be combined with targeted disease-specific and lay-led interventions, but it has yet to be evaluated for a range of chronic conditions using a rigorous controlled trial design. This paper gives the rationale for a randomised controlled trial and process evaluation of the Flinders Program of chronic condition self-management in community practice, and details and justifies the design of such a study.