A b s t r a c tBackground: Guidelines on cardiovascular prevention from the European Society of Cardiology advocate sustained educational measures to be undertaken by both doctors and nurses to ensure lifestyle changes for patients after acute coronary syndromes (ACS). A planned programme of a series of educational meetings for patients after ACS was initiated in form of the Patient Club. Aim:To assess the efficacy of the Patient Club initiative in terms of increased knowledge on cardiovascular risk factors as well as utilisation of healthy lifestyle in patents who attend the programme. Methods:Patients in nine cardiology centres in Poland, who were treated for ACS between October and December 2014, were included. A dedicated questionnaire on healthy lifestyle and knowledge on cardiovascular risk factors was filled in by patients at hospital discharge. In January 2015 the same questionnaire was filled in by the same group of patients before their local Patient Club meeting.Results: There were 1273 patients hospitalised for ACS who were invited to join the Patient Club initiative. Of them, 372 (29%) filled in the questionnaire both at discharge and at the Patient Club meeting. The percentage of patients who smoked cigarettes decreased from 14% to 5% (p < 0.001), and the number of those who had at least 30 min of physical activity daily increased from 50% to 58% (p = 0.015). Conclusions:Patients who attended Patient Club meetings usually four weeks after ACS showed significant benefit in terms of healthy lifestyle changes and more guideline-recommended management of cardiovascular risk factors.

Objective. While simulated patients (SPs) are considered a standard tool in communication skills training, there is no evidence thus far of their comparative benefit to the more cost-effective option of student role playing. We compared the effectiveness of both approaches in developing patient-centred attitudes in students. Methods. We retrospectively compared students who participated in the clinical communication course (CCC), based on student role playing (CCCsp-, n = 160 ), to students who participated in the CCC with SPs (CCCsp+, n = 146 ), and students with no formal CCC (CCC-, n = 122 ). We used validated questionnaires to assess patient centredness. We also conducted focus group interviews (FGI) to better understand the impact of CCC with sp. Results. Students after the CCC with simulated patients achieved a significantly higher score in the patient-practitioner orientation scale than other groups ( p < 0.001 ). Conclusions. There is a strong positive correlation between the implementation of simulated patients and patient-centred attitudes among students. Data from the FGI revealed that students perceived training with SP as more realistic, safe, and engaging than student role playing. Practice Implications. Our research provides evidence to justify costs and resources invested in simulated patient programs.

No abstract