Self‐care among persons using advanced medical technology at home

Abstract

Self-care in this context involves a learning process with education and continuing access to support from professional caregivers. With knowledge and support, patients are able to assume substantial responsibility for self-care. Needs for design improvements of medical technology for use at home are raised.

Considerations for the design of safe and effective consumer health IT applications in the home

“…Some of these applications were designed to be used as part of a home care visit, in which the visiting nurses or home care workers could provide additional training or support to the patients, but many did not anticipate further help for the patient. Even though the potential risk of harm from misuse of consumer health IT applications might be less than with complex medical devices, appropriate training and support are still needed 25. In addition, system purchasers may need to negotiate appropriate levels and availability of support for patients and training modules ahead of time.…”

Hemodialysis Arteriovenous Fistula Self-cannulation

“…8,19 Although others have cautioned that successful home self-care practices require a continuous learning process between the patient and care provider, development of individualized plans of care, an awareness that print material use may be inappropriate for some patients, and recognition of the patient's psychosocial experiences with self-care respectively have been acknowledged. 18,[20][21][22] Despite the meager existence of evidence-informed literature to support nurses in the development of self-cannulation teaching endeavors and locating only 1 related teaching and learning article that discussed the use of Orem's theory to evaluate print education materials, there are guiding principles and recommendations that can be utilized as a means to develop formalized teaching plans and related resources in the literature. 21 For example, at a minimum, teaching methods need to incorporate integral concepts such as assessment of conditioning factors such as age and literacy level; identification of target skills required for the patient to complete; relevant, simple, and short learning exercises; individualized learning objectives; and patient feedback exercises.…”

“…26,30 Moreover, government bodies, health care reform critics, and patient advocacy groups have pushed for an increased emphasis on self-care practices as a means to decrease health care costs, improve quality care delivery, and promote patient choice and autonomy. 22,31 Therefore, support for patients to become involved in their care must be a main goal for managing chronic renal disease. Orem's self-care theory and related concepts provide a comprehensive approach for nurses to assess how basic conditioning factors such as cognitive developmental level, age, and current or projected health status can affect a person's self-care agency, the totality of self-care demands, and the role of these factors in a patient's ability to actualize the goal of AVF self-cannulation.…”

The psychosocial impact of home use medical devices on the lives of older people: a qualitative study

“…On the whole, home dialysis and oxygen therapy equipment seems to be experienced as bulky and conspicuous, having a detrimental effect on the aesthetics of the home environment. Efforts are made to conceal this equipment in a bid to reduce the institutionalised look of the home [6]. …”