Can stratified care help primary care teams manage long-term conditions? (NIHR, 10 September 2024)

Summary

Increasing numbers of people are living with long-term conditions. By 2035, projections suggest that two-thirds (68%) of adults in England aged 65 or above will have two or more conditions; many (17%) will have four or more. At a time when the NHS' primary care workforce is facing unprecedented demands, stratified care for people with long-term conditions could optimise use of NHS resources and improve outcomes.

Content

Stratified care has the potential to personalise treatment, improve health outcomes and save NHS resources. In a stratified approach, the different needs of patients (grouped according to their age, ethnicity, BMI or other characteristics) influence the choice of care pathway. 

In this collection, the National Institute for Health Care and Research (NIHR) present examples of NIHR research on stratified approaches to four common long-term conditions:

• diabetes
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• depression
• musculoskeletal conditions.

This Collection will be useful to primary care clinicians and commissioners.