Nursing path optimisation of home-care patients by using telematics applications (First phase : November 2001 - October 2003)

Description :

The pilot project has the following objectives in mind.

- Development of a telematics application within home care. In phase one, a telematics application will be built around to monitor infusion therapy and drip-feeding at home along with the remote measurement of vital parameters. Phase two will see the development of an application for monitoring blood sugar levels and the automatic relaying of these parameters to the electronic nursing file, which the general practitioner is free to consult.
- The development of an application goes hand in hand with action research investigating the issue of whether the telematics application may help to optimise the patient’s plan of care. For this use is made of constructive technology assessment methodology. Central to this is optimal coordination between the technology and the user context. An investigation will be conducted into how the use of technology may be embedded within the characteristics of the "institutional field" of home care.

Target groups for this project are patients, home carers and general practitioners as well as the developers of the technology, all of whom will be confronted with the application. As far as necessary, allowance will also be made for the hospitals from which patients are discharged.

Technical characteristics - possibilities and difficulties - will be analysed and described. On the basis of
(a) the characteristics of the working structure of carers,
(b) the possibility of mobilizing in volunteer carers,
(c) the attitudes of doctors and hospitals,
(d) the establishment of home care in the region,
(e) quality of care and
(f) the attitudes of (potential) finalusers, a relevant assessment will be conducted.
Based on the evaluation and analysis of this project, recommendations will be drawn up for the introduction and use of the above-mentioned telematics application in home care generally. For the purposes of project valorisation, a list of criteria will be developed that may be used for the introduction of remote monitoring projects in home care. Under this, recommendations will be formulated for building an interactive assessment process during the technology’s development and implementation.

- Contact person (project's coordinator):

Wit-Gele Kruis Limburg vzw
Adelheid Hoewaer
Winterslagstraat 57
3600 GENK
Tel : 089 30 08 80
Fax : 089 30 08 88
adelheid.hoewaer@limburg.wgk.be

PARTNERSHIP

Coordinator Wit-Gele Kruis Limburg vzw

Partner 1 Estafette nv

Partner 2 Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) Medisch-Sociale Wetenschappen (MSW)