Launch of country’s first online gout management website for primary care

SECTOR UPDATE - Health Literacy NZ and Health Navigator

Gout, a painful and debilitating condition, affects thousands of people in Aotearoa New Zealand. Those disproportionately affected are whānau Māori and Pacific peoples ‒ mainly men, some young men.

Today, we are excited to announce the launch of goutguide.nz, a free, must-have resource for GPs, nurses, pharmacists, health coaches and all healthcare teams.

The comprehensive guide, funded by Te Whatu Ora, is a joint project between Health Literacy New Zealand, Health Navigator Charitable Trust and a collaborative of five ProCare practices.

The online guide, which comes with tips for how to use it to best advantage, provides primary care teams with the knowledge and tools they need to achieve equitable outcomes for whānau Māori and Pacific peoples with gout.

Significant improvement in equitable gout treatment
Practices in the ProCare Gout Collaborative achieved statistically significant improvement in equitable gout treatment for Pacific people and in one practice for whānau Māori as well. The key aspects that made a difference for the practices in the ProCare Collaborative were:

• importance of the whole team getting up to date with current gout treatment
• having a reliable data set
• using point of care meters in practices to test uric acid levels and then start a conversation with the patient
• role of the whole healthcare team including health coaches in talking with patients about the impact of their gout and what they wanted to do
• removal of as many barriers as possible for patients, eg, use of point of care meters, free appointments with the health coach to discuss gout, free appointment with the GP to initiate treatment and proactive contact by members of the primary healthcare team to talk about gout.

The guide’s resources remind clinicians and patients that gout is not the fault of the person with gout – mostly it is caused by genetics, particularly for whānau Māori and Pacific peoples – and that gout is very treatable.

A quote on the website from Dr Harley Aish, Otara Family and Christian Medical Centre, sums up the guide’s key message: “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.”

Videos for whānau
There are eight short videos on the website (see Patient and whānau Māori resources section), and on Healthify He Puna Waiora, aimed at whānau Māori and Pacific peoples with gout. The videos are presented by Dr Vanisi Prescott, a Tongan GP and urgent care doctor.

The videos provide key messages about gout for those wishing to find out more about living well without the pain of gout attacks and getting back to doing the things they enjoy. The videos are currently being translated into te reo Māori, Samoan, Cook Islands Māori and Tongan.

Key features of goutguide.nz include:
1. Gout education for your team.
2. Building your team.
3. Medicines and prescribing.
4. Point of care testing.
5. How to have better conversations about gout.
6. Care pathways and workflows.
7. Equity information and resources.
8. Patient and whānau resources.
9. Removing barriers.
10. Partnering with pharmacy.

Primary care teams around the motu interested in how they can improve equitable treatment of gout are encouraged to check out the guide. On the homepage there are some recommended steps to using the guide based on the outcomes of the ProCare Collaborative.

Transforming gout treatment nationwide – together
“We are optimistic that this pioneering initiative will transform the way practitioners and individuals manage gout in this country," says Dr Janine Bycroft, CEO, Health Navigator Charitable Trust.

Her colleague, Susan Reid, Health Literacy NZ, acknowledges the many people who have contributed over the years to the guide: “…. patients and whānau who shared their stories about how gout had impacted their lives, the Maaori Gout Action Group, Gout Action Aotearoa, Leanne Te Karu, Arthritis New Zealand, Health Quality and Safety Commission, Pharmac, He Ako Hiringa, primary care initiatives in Ngati Porou, Northland, Whanganui, Auckland and Hawke’s Bay as well as initiatives with community pharmacists across the country. Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini. Success is not the work of an individual, but the work of many.”

Source: Health Literacy NZ and Health Navigator media release

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