A status of medical self-care practices and recommendations for a medical self-care initiative at Lands' End, Incorporated

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess medical self-care practices at Lands' End, Incorporated, and to examine and identify determinants of medical self-care behaviors. A randomly-selected stratified sample of employees from three employee classifications were invited to participate in the study anonymously. Of the 587 subjects selected, 424 (72%) completed the Medical Self-Care Survey. Population Descriptive Statistics were used to assess prevalence estimates for several medical self-care practices. Visiting a primary physician was found to be the most prevalent medical self-care practice (72.6%). Using a medical self-care guide ranked fourth (40.3%).Eighty-two percent of respondents had a copy of the Take Care of Yourself book and 81.6% had used it at least once in the past year. It improved the quality of health care for 40.1 % of those who used it. The book had less impact on saving money on medical expenses (30.5 %), eliminating a visit to the doctor (27.1 %) and strengthening the partnership with the doctor (13.5 %).Behavioral factors thought to enhance the use of medical self-care included: high self-efficacy in terms of diagnosing health problems and using medical self-care resources, high internal locus of control, and reinforcement from Lands' End, Incorporated.