Practice Nurse Programme - University of Surrey
An exploration of the prevalence of food intolerance and its management in primary care - Department of Psychology, University of Surrey
FAIR has initiated a programme which is designed to establish the extent of food intolerance and how it can be managed within the NHS. To this end FAIR is funding two Research Assistants and four Practice Nurses under the supervision of Prof. Jane Ogden of the University of Surrey.
Food intolerance is on the increase although estimates of its prevalence are problematic due to issues of diagnosis and assessment. The first port of call for most patients is their GP and yet GPs lack expertise and remain untrained in the management of these problems.
FAIR has recently provided a substantial grant to fund a three year project based at the University of Surrey. The project will employ two researchers and four practice nurses and aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a food allergy nurse placed in primary care. The study will involve three stages: a development stage, a needs assessment stage and a clinical service and evaluation stage.
Stage 1: The development stage
The development stage will involve the following:
- The development of a self report diagnostic tool that can be used in primary care
- The development of guidelines for good practice by the food allergy nurses.
Stage 2: The needs assessment stage
Four nurses are working in practices around the country and are involved in data collection and to see patients. The needs assessment stage will involve the following:
- An assessment of the prevalence of food allergy in the community
- An assessment of experiences of existing primary care services
- An estimate for the likely uptake of the primary care service
Stage 3: The clinical service and evaluation stage
The nurses will see patients either directly or via GP referral. The clinical service will involve:
- Patient assessment involving in depth diet diaries
- Planning patient management.
- Offering some preliminary dietary modification advice.
The evaluation will involve following these patients up and assessing the following:
- Changes in patient symptoms
- Patient satisfaction
- Changes in subsequent referrals and prescribing
In addition, the study aims to address the following key research questions:
- What is the prevalence of food intolerance in the community?
- What is the prevalence of perceived food intolerance in the community?
- What are patients' experiences of seeking help for food intolerance in primary care?
- What are patients' experiences of having food intolerance?
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What psychological factors such as mood, cognitions and eating related problems correlate with the experience of food intolerance?
The project is coordinated by:
Professor Jane Ogden and the two researchers are Joe Pope and Mia Nelson.
The steering group includes:
Professor Norman Staines, Dr Joe Rosenthal, Dr Richard McManus, Professor Richard Hobbs, Prof. Jane Ogden, Hazel Clayton.