Patients’ perspectives on ecologically sustainable healthcare in general practice
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Background
Healthcare contributes substantially to climate change. GPs want to implement sustainable healthcare, but are hesitant; worried that this may jeopardise their patient-physician relationship. However, whether this concern is valid is yet to be assessed.
Aim
To explore patients’ perspectives on sustainable healthcare in general practice.
Design and setting
In 2022 and 2023 we performed an online study, among Dutch GP patients, using experimental vignettes and a questionnaire.
Method
The vignettes described GP appointments for three health complaints with randomly allocated treatment advice, varying in sustainability and explanation, but with comparable health outcomes. The questionnaire assessed patients’ perspectives on sustainable healthcare in general practice. We analysed the vignettes using mixed-design ANOVA and the questionnaire using descriptive statistics and correlations.
Results
801 participants completed the vignettes, and 397 the questionnaire. We found no difference on satisfaction with a doctor’s visit ( P ’s>.238) when comparing a sustainable and a non-sustainable treatment option. The effect of explicitly mentioning sustainability differed per health complaint (dyspnoea: no difference; knee pain: MD=.319, P =.002; erythema: MD=-.227, P =.003). In the questionnaire, participants reported positive expectations, and trust in the GP and treatment when delivering sustainable healthcare, but were more neutral about the GPs’ role.
Conclusion
We found no indication that sustainable treatment advice leads to lower satisfaction with healthcare. The effect of explicitly mentioning sustainability was minimal and differed per health complaint. When directly asked, patients were mainly positive about sustainable healthcare. These results could encourage GPs to introduce sustainable treatment advice, without worrying about negatively influencing patient satisfaction.
How this fits in
GPs and other healthcare professionals increasingly want to implement sustainable healthcare, but are hesitant to do so, fearing that it will jeopardise their patient-physician relationship. However, no studies have been conducted to assess how patients actually respond to sustainable healthcare in general practice. In this study among GP patients, we found: no indication that sustainable treatment advice, in scenarios with comparable health outcomes, leads to lower satisfaction with a doctor’s visit; that the effect of explicitly mentioning sustainability on satisfaction with a doctor’s visit had a minimal effect that differed per health complaint; and that patients were mainly positive about sustainable healthcare when reflecting on this topic in a questionnaire. These findings may encourage GPs to introduce sustainable treatment options in their consultations, without worrying about negatively influencing patient satisfaction.
