Development and Evaluation of MyLifeTool: A Self-Management Programme for People Living with Multiple Long-Term Conditions

Background: Self-management support is typically condition-specific, which can negatively impact the healthcare experiences and wellbeing of people living with multiple long-term conditions. Adopting a person-centred approach to self-management which focuses on the person rather than the condition, enables people with long-term conditions to explore factors that influence their own personal illness and self-management journeys. We aimed to coproduce and evaluate a pan condition, person-centred self-management intervention which supports reflection on a person’s strengths and the physical, psychological and social aspects of living with long-term conditions.
Methods: Based on our framework for self-managing long-term conditions, we coproduced MyLifeTool with ten people who lived with a range of long-term conditions. We piloted the tool with seven people initially, collecting qualitative, diary-based and focus group data. A later mixed methods regional evaluation with thirty participants who used MyLifeTool for 12 weeks, collected quantitative data at baseline, week six and week twelve through online questionnaires measuring a range of psychosocial factors related to long-term condition self-management. Post-participation, participants answered open-ended survey questions regarding their thoughts, perceptions and experiences of using MyLifeTool and semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants to explore their experiences of using the tool in more detail.
Results: Thematic analysis of the pilot study data identified four themes which highlighted how the flexibility of MyLifeTool enabled participants to follow their own self-management journey. The results from the regional evaluation showed significant increases from baseline to week twelve in pacing ability, psychosocial wellbeing, empowerment, self-efficacy and flourishing, while the qualitative data highlighted personal growth and development of positive coping strategies.
Conclusions: MyLifeTool shows promise as a self-management intervention for people living with multiple long-term conditions. It supports people to follow their own self-management journey, regardless of condition, and sees them as active in their journey, rather than passive recipients of treatment.