Introduction
The project Home is Where the Heart Is (HIWTHI) developed by professional cardiologists is aimed at the prevention and treatment of heart failure since this disease is one of the most common causes of death among the elderly population. As a proposed treatment method, an outpatient intervention was suggested through diets, physical exercises, and communication with psychologists and work with nurses. The program allowed medical personnel to provide patients with all the necessary information about the possible consequences of the disease, teach them to control their lifestyle, and follow the recommended treatment regimens that are required for faster recovery.
Analysis of the Work Done
As the central study group, men aged 65 and older who had heart problems were performed. It is this category of the population, as Kemp and Conte (2012) note, which is at risk of myocardial infarcts, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and other ailments caused by heart failure. The specialists of the program developed and implemented a treatment plan for such patients. As a preventive measure, a set of massage exercises was developed, as well as physical training by the capabilities and condition of each patient. Based on the findings of the study, the optimal rehabilitation strategy includes not only medical treatment but also full-fledged care within the family. To achieve this goal, doctors propose to develop friendly relations with families and make the scheme of care based on the values ​​and beliefs of the patients themselves. Such a careful plan is useful not only for the elderly themselves but also for the country because, according to Bates (2015), the costs of patient care in America are quite high. Therefore, it was necessary to develop a detailed scheme for preventing heart-related diseases and the mortality of the elderly population.
The HIWTHI program has developed a particular set of three basic procedures to create the most favorable conditions for treatment: Operational Policies & Procedures, Administrative Policies & Procedures, and Clinical Care Policies and Procedures. The whole complex is aimed at ensuring that patients with heart failure understand the importance of the measures taken since, as Desai and Stevenson (2012) remark, non-compliance with medical prescriptions and misunderstanding of the doctor’s recommendations lead to complications. The program involved a phased implementation of all the basics of the course steps and consisted of the work of many specialists, including cardiologists, nurses, nutritionists, and social workers. The participation of all the members in the program was entirely voluntary; the only condition was the fulfillment of prescriptions of doctors for six months.
Expected Outcomes and Measures of Success
It is planned that the introduction of the program will reduce the level of mortality and will lower the risk of complications from heart failure. The quality of work will be determined by several indicators, including efficiency, time frame, safety, and patient-centered quality. It is believed that the measure to introduce telehealth at home will prove to be an efficient technique. As Boyde et al. (2017) note, a multimedia educational intervention is a useful measure that may help in the process of recovering from heart failure. Furthermore, Harris, Waller, and Brooke (2017) consider that such technology will not only reduce the state’s expenses but also increase the general awareness of the population about the causes and possible consequences of heart diseases and help in their prevention.
The expected level of mortality reduction and improvement in indicators has already been determined. The planned data on the possible positive impact of the HIWTHI program are as follows: during the first year of its implementation, it is anticipated to reduce the mortality rate of patients with heart failure from 25% to 15% in the first month. During the second year, this figure can reach 5%. As for the number of hospitalizations, it is also planned to achieve positive dynamics and reduce the number of people getting into hospitals by about 10% during the first two years of the project.
HIWTHI will promote the early detection of heart failure, and all the data will be analyzed through questionnaires. The use of an exclusive Tele-Buddy system will simplify the treatment process, and the service itself will be accessible to everyone since it does not require special access and can be connected to any home. According to Kwekkeboom and Bratzke (2016), a patient’s recovery is also influenced to some extent by meditation, which will also be included in the treatment program to stabilize not only the physical but also spiritual state.
Thus, the program HIWTHI can provide patients with all the necessary data concerning the possible consequences of heart failure and give them information about how to control their lifestyle. The implementation of multi-media treatment tools, as well as special care at home, will provide an individual approach to each case and may help to increase the dynamics of recovery. Possible positive prospects for the project implementation make it relevant today, and the arguments presented indicate that the results of the introduction of HIWTHI into medical practice are likely to be successful.
References
Bates, D. W. (2015). Health information technology and care coordination: The next big opportunity for informatics? Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 10(1), 11-14.
Boyde, M., Peters, R., Hwang, R., Korczyk. D., Ha, T., & New, N. (2017). The self-care educational intervention for patients with heart failure: A study protocol. The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. 32(2): 165-170.
Desai, S.A., & Stevenson, L.W. (2012). Rehospitalization for heart failure. Circulation, 126(4), 501-506. Web.
Harris, C., Allen, K., Waller, C. & Brooke, V. (2017). Sustainability in healthcare by allocating resources effectively (SHARE) 3: Examining how resource allocation decisions are made, implemented and evaluated in a local healthcare setting. BioMed Central, 17(340).
Kemp, C. D., & Conte, J. V. (2012). The pathophysiology of heart failure. Cardiovascular Pathology, 21(5), 365-371.
Kwekkeboom, K. L., & Bratzke, L. C. (2016). A systematic review of relaxation, meditation, and guided imagery strategies for symptom management in heart failure. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 31(5), 457-468. Web.