Carer involvement in GP–patient consultations and translatability to virtual care: a multi-methods study

Background Carers are important facilitators for patients accessing care and having positive experiences. Carers often accompany patients to their consultations, providing emotional and physical support. To our knowledge, there is limited research identifying and describing the specific activities carers are involved in or the translatability of these activities to virtual care. Aim To identify and describe the activities carers are involved in during consultations with their GP, and to assess how these activities could translate to virtual care consultations. Design & setting This study screened 281 videos of in-person GP consultations set within eight UK general practices, with 39 eligible for analysis. Method Secondary analysis of in-person GP consultations was conducted to extract activities involving the carer. A novel evidence-based scoring system was used on each activity, determining the likelihood of whether each carer-related activity could be supported in virtual care. Results A total of 39 activities (seven categories) where carers were involved were identified. Out of these 39 activities, 25.6% ( n = 10) were categorised as ‘health information sharing’, 23.1% ( n = 9) were categorised as ‘emotional or physical support’, 20.5% ( n = 8) were categorised as ‘history taking’, 12.8% ( n = 5) were categorised as ‘health-related at-home activities’, 7.7% ( n = 3) were categorised as ‘logistics’, 7.7% ( n = 3) were categorised as ‘building a relationship’, and one (2.6%) was categorised as ‘other’. The average score of an activity being translatable to virtual care is 13/15. Conclusion All activities involving carers were deemed translatable or potentially translatable to virtual care. Future research should examine ways to support carers and their roles during virtual care.