“Gout is so treatable compared to other long-term conditions. Treatment is so important for our patients so they can work and participate in family life and their communities.” ‒ ****Dr Harley Aish, Otara Family and Christian Medical Centre.
As primary care leaders, we're on a shared mission to improve gout outcomes equitably. Let's rethink our strategies and stimulate conversation about gout within our teams and with whānau Māori and Pacific communities.
The Gout Guide builds on findings from several gout projects including the Whanganui GOUT STOP programme and ProCare Gout Collaborative. It provides practical tools and insights for a fresh take on gout treatment. Completed in June 2023, the guide developed following a project funded by Te Whatu Ora, Long-Term Conditions Directorate. Ongoing support is provided by Health Literacy NZ and Health Navigator Charitable Trust. Read more.
Join us on this journey to equity and excellence in gout care. Together, we'll make a big difference!
See steps to get started below the Gout Guide Pages display.
Gout education for your team Start by making sure your whole practice team is up-to-date with current gout treatment and the reasons for the focus on whānau Māori and Pacific peoples. There are lots of articles, webinars and quizzes you can use to build your team’s knowledge about gout.
Build your team/care pathways and workflow Work out who is going to lead your gout programme and who is going to be contacting whānau Māori and Pacific peoples with gout. Consider using your health coach or healthcare assistant.
Funding Agree on what you are offering as part of your programme and how your offerings will be funded.
Point of care testing Make sure you order point of care meters and consumables for your team. Point of care meters are accurate for measuring uric acid levels and useful for starting conversations about taking uric acid medicines. Most importantly, the meters remove the barrier of having to get lab tests done.
Data Sort out your data. You could do a query build in your PMS; get your PHO to help or use the Epic database from He Ako Hiringa. Think carefully about the scope of your data set. If the initial list is too large, focus on a subgroup first.
Better conversations about gout Think about the best way to contact your patients – phone call, text – what are you offering and how you are going to have the conversation.
Medicines and prescribing Work out who will do the initial prescribing and the follow up, and who will get patients in for blood tests for titration.
Set up a collaborative with another practice Consider working with another practice or groups of practices. The practices in the collaborative found it really useful to learn from each other and share ideas and different approaches. Your PHO may be able to help.
Patient and whānau resources Have a look at all the resources available and work out the best ones for your practice and your patients. Kia kaha.
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