Project

Unnamed, invisible symptoms in health care (NINNI)

Persistent physical symptoms are common and can significantly impair both work ability and quality of life. Many people suffering from such symptoms do not receive sufficient support and explanation for their issues from health care. Individually tailored and multidisciplinary care often plays a key role in solving such diverse and long-term situations. The aim of this project is to introduce and better adapt a multidisciplinary assessment tool for everyday healthcare appointments that supports the planning of individualised care and multidisciplinary collaboration in the care of patients.

Timetable

1/2026–12/2027

Objectives

The project will introduce a multidisciplinary assessment tool to evaluate patients' situations and to plan individualised care. The tool was developed in a previous project (DigiPimo) and is intended for patients with prolonged somatic symptoms.

The goal is to

gain insight into how patients and professionals perceive the tool and what kind of interaction the tool promotes
make the tool more practical and suitable for daily use in health care.

Data and methods

Work pairs consisting of healthcare professionals (doctors and psychologists/nurses) will be invited to participate in the project to try out the assessment tool. The professionals will first receive online training on using the tool, after which they can apply the tool in pairs in their own practices for patients with persistent physical symptoms.

The professionals will select patients suitable for the study based on the following criteria:

18–65 years old
persistent physical symptom that require examination by health care act and
willingness of the patient to voluntarily participate in the project.

A patient participating in the project will have three appointments with a work pair. The first appointment includes a diagnostic interview with the doctor, in which the current symptoms and related factors as well as any previous illnesses are assessed extensively. The second appointment is with a psychologist or nurse and involves a more comprehensive examination of psychosocial factors that can affect the patient’s symptoms. The third appointment is also with a psychologist or nurse, and the purpose of the visit is to provide a summary (so-called case description) of the patient’s situation and to plan further treatment.

Some of the appointments will be recorded for interaction analysis.

The aim is to recruit approximately 30 patients, each of whom will participate in both a doctor’s interview and a psychosocial assessment. Approximately 10–12 teams of professionals will be recruited for the project.

Results and impact

As a result of the project, the assessment tool will become more user-friendly and suitable for daily use in healthcare when treating patients with persistent physical symptoms. The tool and its instructions for use are published as free-of-charge material on the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health’s website.

The tool can be used extensively in different health care units and levels to clarify the status and rights of patients and to define the goals of care and rehabilitation. The use of the assessment tool improves the targeting of care, meeting patients as individuals and the structure of interation.

Integrating the tool into the healthcare toolkit provides professionals with additional tools to help manage patients' overall situation. This can prevent patients suffering from persistent symptoms from falling into the interfaces between health care and work life and from being excluded from rehabilitation.