Saving lives through effective patient engagement around NHS health checks

Abstract

Purpose – Putting behavioural insights theory into practice a trial in Southwark using iPLATO Hub to communicate with over 13,000 patients concluded that the right combination of text messaging and letter content increased uptake of NHS Health Checks by 65 per cent. This iPLATO case study, based on a randomised controlled trial with the Department of Health, Public Health England and Southwark Council, reported in July 2015. The purpose of this paper is to spread best practice and help other parts of the country transform uptake to NHS Health Checks. Design/methodology/approach – This research – led by the Department of Health and Southwark Council – was designed to test the impact of certain forms of communication informed by insights from behavioural science. These insights involved small, pragmatic and very low cost or free changes to the invitation process, for example, how messages are framed and the language used. These changes are designed to fit within existing practice, which means they can easily be scaled up across all CCGs. Findings – Results from the trial also indicate that a combination of the deadline commitment letter and just a reminder text message (no primer message) was nearly as effective as two texts, while the new letters on their own (without any text messages) increased uptake to 21 per cent. This suggests that clear and concise text messages from the iPLATO Hub delivered the major impact on uptake. Originality/value – iPLATO is working with the research group to expand the research and improve on the reported findings while helping to spread best practice across the NHS.