2019 Volume 17 Issue 3 Pages 133-139
At an outpatient foot care clinic of a hospital, acceptance of new patients was difficult because of the presence of many consecutive patients with difficulty in acquiring independent foot self-care. To resolve this, the outpatient foot care clinic introduced a program comprised of 3 sessions: evaluation of the foot in the 1st session, instruction of self-care in the 2nd session, and comprehensive evaluation in the 3rd session, attaching greater importance to support for independent foot self-care. The state of patient consultation was retrospectively investigated based on medical records before and after introduction of the program to clarify the acceptance of new patients, state of consultation, and state of support for independent foot self-care after introduction of the program. The number of new patients who visited the outpatient foot care clinic was 70 over 6 years before introduction and 62 over 2 years after introduction. There was no significant difference in patient attributes (age, sex, and foot lesion risk classification) between before and after introduction, but regarding the state of consultation, significant differences were noted in the mean frequency of consultation (before introduction: 12.0±12.0, after introduction: 3.0±2.0) and outcome: rate of patients who discontinued and completed consultation (27 (38.6%) and 3 (4.8%) patients discontinued before and after introduction, respectively). The frequency of consultation of the same patients decreased after introduction of the program and the discontinuation rate also decreased. To support acquiring independence in self-care after introduction of the program, instruction and utilization of the program were proposed to not only patients but also caregivers in 30% of all cases. The ‘3-session program’ of the outpatient foot care clinic reduced the frequency of consultation by the same patients and the rate of consecutive patients, being effective for patients to acquire independence in foot self-care.
