Digital technology is rapidly changing healthcare organisations globally, and people now understand how technology can help address their healthcare needs. COVID-19 has further increased the presence of Telehealth and digital health over the past 18 months.
And to stay competitive and address demands, care organisations from hospitals, clinics and other care facilities must consistently adapt to improve workflows and enhance care outcomes.
One of the aged care solutions driven by technology advancements in healthcare is self-management care. Self-management is a crucial part of person-centred care. However, self-managed care requires specific skills for individuals to change how they want to receive care effectively. One way to adapt to this care model is to take advantage of the technology used around self-managed care.
Self-management care technology can help with communication, health education and tracking of personal health data. And these aspects present challenges for individuals wanting to shift to self-managed care and providers offering these services.
Mobile Technology for Client Communication
Effective communication between aged care residents or disabled clients and their health care practitioners is crucial for individuals opting for self-managed care. In a traditional setting, a health practitioner or carer shares their recommendations ranging from medications and treatments, and the patient or resident is asked to “comply”.
But with self-management aims to promote independence for the client and collaborative care between individuals, their health practitioners and care providers. The interaction starts with a plan that focuses on the individual’s priorities and cares recommendations, where medical decisions and choices in services are communicated collaboratively.
Another aspect of effective communication is making use of digital solutions to connect easily. Most resident-provider or patient-physician communication only happens during scheduled treatments or assistance. The time allotted might not be enough for them to understand what they need to do to improve their health and well-being. A study on communication preferences for healthcare reminders showed that people preferred text messages over emails, letters or phones and want to be notified by scheduled appointment reminders, health insurance information and medication reminders.
With technology being used in communication, client communication is not limited to clinical appointments, care facilities, or hospitals. Care mobile applications like CareVision are now being used for engaging residents/patients, carers and their family members. With care apps, they can quickly get details about their care, such as daily to-do lists, reminders for their medications, scheduled treatments and access to services they need.
Using this type of technology solution keeps them continuously engaging with their providers and being more open in communicating the kind of care they want to receive that aligns with their needs and preferences.
Personalised Care Treatments and Smart Monitoring Solutions Helps with Client Education
In terms of self-management care, client education is defined as the process of influencing an individual’s behaviour and producing changes in knowledge, perspective and acquiring necessary skills to maintain or improve health.
When individuals know their current health condition, they will be more aware of the changes they need to improve their mental and physical health. Individuals needing care who are more knowledgeable about their health are more likely to be more engaged in self-management care, attend their scheduled care appointments, and are motivated to improve their health.
Self-managed care also involves a better understanding of their current health. This can be achieved by providing personalised programs, treatments, or reliable resources for their present condition that will help them see the value of changing their lifestyle and better understand each care recommendation.
Besides educating them about their health conditions, clients should be knowledgeable enough to self-manage their care plans and where they can use digital solutions to help them manage their funding, expenses, care plan reviews, and renewals and services. These tasks can be coordinated between clients and their chosen providers.
Self-generated health data
Mobile health apps and smart technology devices such as smart speakers, wearable technologies are some of the digital solutions that the healthcare industry is now adopting for client monitoring outside clinics and hospitals and collecting their health data. This effort aims to reduce the number of unnecessary in-person clinical appointments.
Smart technology monitoring devices help providers monitor the effectiveness of medications or treatment programs and align it with their client’s care plans to enable them to become partners in their care. For example, engaging clients to use different telehealth solutions to improve their health, such as teaching them how to use medical-grade ECG, checking their heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. This helps providers identify the continuous care they need and enable clients to make better-informed decisions that align with their preferences in receiving care.
It empowers clients and can make a difference in their care. By teaching them to use medical-grade health monitoring solutions, residents can then use these monitoring devices integrated with their client records and automatically update their current health status with their doctors and providers. Giving them the responsibility to collect their data can boost their confidence in the decision-making process, be more involved in their care plans and services and encourage independence in caring for their health and well-being.
As the healthcare industry continues to shift toward person-centered care models, providers need to increase client engagement to ensure success. And some of the major contributors to these care models are the availability of the technology that clients can use and their willingness to adopt the technology for self-managed care by providing easy-to-use digital solutions.
If you want to learn more about how your care facility can improve your client’s experience in self-managed care, you can call CareVision on 1300 324 070 or schedule a free demo with our team.