Intervention design objectives | Key features |
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To motivate patients and practice staff to undertake medication titration | • Education for patients and staff about benefits of titration and study procedures (e.g. quizzes to promote knowledge, evidence of need and efficacy) • Elements to promote patient and staff self-efficacy and autonomy for undertaking titration (e.g. skill building, emphasising health professional oversight) • Addressing concerns of patients and staff about medication side effects (e.g. encouraging realistic expectations about side effects, providing methods to seek advice on side effects) and of staff about patients’ acceptance of medication titration |
To facilitate implementation of medication titration by patients and practice staff | • Carefully designed automation of practice-patient interaction to make implementation of titration procedures as easy and well-controlled as possible • In-built procedures to manage patient or staff concerns or objections to titration |
Easy and low cost to implement the protocol | • Limiting the study co-ordinator role • Online training • No passwords for healthcare practitioner log on to ensure easy access to procedures, training and documentation • Prioritising medication titration as the key behaviour in reducing hypertension • Providing optional (and flexible) support at the most crucial time points |