Abbott S, Hobby L
Health and Community Care Research Unit, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 3GB.
Public Health. 2000 Sep;114(5):324-7. doi: 10.1038/sj.ph.1900680.
It is not uncommon for welfare benefits advice organisations to offer services in primary care settings. Given the link between deprivation and poor health, the maximising of individual income in this way may also be expected to improve health. However, such improvement has hitherto not been successfully measured. This paper reports on a small study of such a service, provided by the local Citizens Advice Bureau. Statistically significant increases in SF-36 scores were measured for those whose income increased as a result of receiving advice, despite the prevalence in the group (average age 56 y) of chronic disabling conditions such as arthritis and sensory impairment. These findings suggest that 'prescribing advice' is a health intervention which is appropriately situated in primary care.
福利咨询组织在初级医疗保健机构提供服务的情况并不少见。鉴于贫困与健康状况不佳之间的联系，通过这种方式使个人收入最大化也有望改善健康状况。然而，迄今为止尚未成功衡量到这种改善。本文报告了一项关于当地公民咨询局提供的此类服务的小型研究。对于那些因接受咨询而收入增加的人，SF-36评分有统计学上的显著提高，尽管该组（平均年龄56岁）普遍存在关节炎和感觉障碍等慢性致残疾病。这些发现表明，“开处方式建议”是一种适合在初级医疗保健中进行的健康干预措施。
