| Summary: | Yuta Okazawa,1 Hayato Kizaki,1 Nobuyuki Suzuki,2 Wakako Osaka,3 Satoko Hori1,2 1Division of Drug Informatics, Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy, Tokyo, 105-8512, Japan; 2Patient Salon Association, Tokyo, Japan; 3Keio University Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, Tokyo, 160-8582, JapanCorrespondence: Satoko Hori, Division of Drug Informatics, Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy, 1-5-30 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-8512, Japan, Tel +81-3-5400-2650, Fax +81-3-5400-2799, Email hori-st@pha.keio.ac.jpPurpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of a Science Café (SC) dealing with medical topics on participants’ patient activation (PA), a concept that refers to patients’ involvement in managing their own health, working with their healthcare providers, and maintaining their health.Material and Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who had participated in a medical SC (n = 10) to identify the medical SC-associated factors that influenced PA. Through a questionnaire of medical SC participants (n = 23), the impact on PA and correlations with relevant psychological measures were quantitatively assessed.Results: The interviews revealed three factors: “Experience & acceptance of chronic conditions”, “Features of medical SC” and “Changes as a result of participation.” The questionnaire results showed a positive correlation between PA and resilience and a negative correlation with decision regret.Conclusions: Participation in a medical SC by people with illnesses can improve PA by improving knowledge and skills for self-management and increasing self-awareness of illness in a supportive environment. The study highlights the potential benefits of using medical SC as a strategy for healthcare providers to improve PA and health outcomes.Keywords: self-management, psychological measures, patient community, supportive environment
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