NON-STOP Study 2 – Developing clinical consensus for NON-STOP

In workstream 1 we spoke to children with Perthes’ Disease, their families, and the healthcare professionals who look after them. We found out lots about what care for Perthes’ Disease looks like at the moment, and what it has looked like in the past. More interesting than that, we found out what the most important people think it should look like in the future! Our experts (YOU!) have told us that an app would be a good idea to help children with Perthes’ Disease manage their condition.

Now comes the important part of making an app, we need to decide what goes on it. In the interview study that we have just finished, we got lots of ideas of what an app would have on it in order to make it fun, and engaging for the people using it. What we need to do now, is make sure that it does everything that the people giving it out want it to. To do that, we’re using a Delphi study to find out what the NHS staff looking after children with Perthes’ Disease agree are important in the Non-Surgical Treatment of Perthes’ Disease.

This study is an online study, the people taking part are physiotherapists, surgeons, nurses and any other healthcare professionals that look after children with Perthes’ Disease regularly. They will complete an online survey, this will include statements that have been designed by an advisory group of physiotherapists, nurses and surgeons. The people completing the survey will read the statements, and decide whether they agree or disagree with the statements. After this is done, I will produce a list of statements that had ‘consensus’, this means the people reading the statement, mostly agreed/disagreed with the statement. This list will be things that can be advised for NON-STOP moving forward, and will be used to make the NON-STOP app in the next part of the study.

If you want to read more about this study, please view the participant information sheet pdf and you can view the summary of the available evidence pdf.