Inflammatory Bowel Disease
The service is designed for any patient with a diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
It has been designed to augment a more patient-centred approach to ongoing support of people living with IBD. In combination with the flare card, it helps enable patients to self-manage their condition when appropriate, reduce inappropriate routine return appointments, minimise unnecessary patient travel and allow patients to access help and support from home.
Individualised care for people living with IBD:
- Focuses on what matters to the patient, rather than what is the matter with them.
- Recognises that patients are more than just a diagnosis, and instead addresses their physical, emotional well-being and social care needs together as one.
- Involves patients in decisions about their care. For example, in decisions about medications or surgical interventions.
- Empowers people living with IBD to take an active role in their care by giving them the information, skills and confidence to self-manage and live as well as possible.
- Treats patients as an equal or partner in decisions about their care, not doing things to them but with them.
- Delivers good joined-up care, where information and decisions are shared in a timely manner and include everyone involved in patients’ care.
- Provides patient-centred access to care through a channel that will suits the individual.
Connect Me IBD Service
We hope clinicians and patients find the Connect Me IBD service simple and easy to use, helping people better understand their condition and manage their symptoms.
When the service is activated in advance of their outpatient appointment, patients will receive an email notification containing a link to an online questionnaire regarding their IBD, which will remain available for up to 6 weeks. Before their appointment, they are asked to complete the questionnaire, the answers to which will form the basis of a shared discussion between them and their clinician when they are face-to-face.
A clinician can add additional information about medication and treatments in advance of or during the outpatient appointment. Once the clinician task is completed, the patient will receive a copy of their Individual Care Plan with the combined answers, via a PDF via email attachment. A copy will also be available for the clinician to download within the Inhealthcare platform.
The IBD Individual Care Plan - How to Use the Pathway is a step-by-step instruction guide for clinicians and administrative staff on using the Connect Me IBD Pathway.
Although developed for patients, this resource is useful for clinicians supporting the use of the Connect Me IBD Pathway:
The IBD Individual Care Plan guide helps clinicians understand how patients use the Connect Me IBD Service via the automated monitoring service.
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