N26 Help-seeking experiences of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease from healthcare professionals: A qualitative descriptive study

Due to the chronic, relapsing and remitting disease course associated with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), self-management tools inclusive of conceptualising the problem, acknowledging the need for external help and knowing where to seek help from are essential for the management of IBD. Those living with IBD are challenged by physical symptoms and psychological and social issues that they are unable to self-solve. Help-seeking behaviour (HSB) is a relatively new concept to health services research (Cornally & McCarthy, 2011) and has been infrequently applied to the area of IBD. When IBD-related challenges are beyond self-resolution, patients require help and support from healthcare professionals (HCPs). This engagement must be facilitated at the point of issue recognition, as opposed to at crisis point. Given the dearth of research in this area, this study explored the help-seeking experiences of patients living with IBD for the challenges associated with IBD from HCPs, to enable us through understanding their experiences, how best to support help-seeking pathways and/or early interventions to assist those living with IBD to resolve issues that challenge their day-to-day lives.