Novel structure improves hospital care at home

The integrated structure HaH Buddy enables the delivery of hospital care at home, fulfilling the physical, spatial, and interpersonal needs of patients at an affordable price, according to a Singapore study.

“Stakeholders found the HaH Buddy useful in organizing their healthcare and medical items and consumables such as medications, wound products, diapers, milk supplements, and creating a safe workspace for the visiting community nurse,” the researchers said. “This enhances the experience, efficiency, and comfort of the patient, family, and staff.”

This three-phase mixed method study sought to understand the challenges of providing and receiving healthcare in the community, develop a solution, and pilot and assess this solution.

In phase 1, the researchers surveyed nurses, patients, and caregivers and used the results in phase 2 to design a solution. In phase 3, the research team designed an integrated structure and piloted it for the stakeholders’ evaluation.

Fifty patient-caregiver dyads and 20 nurses completed the survey. They cited physical home environment as their main challenge, particularly the lack of a dedicated and clean space to perform nursing procedures. For caregivers and patients, their greatest challenge was medication management. [Proc Singap Healthc 2023;doi:10.1177/20101058231209200]

These findings were used to design a prototype of HaH Buddy in phase 2. Ten patient-caregiver dyads and nine community nurses tested this prototype in phase 3 and found the integrated structure helpful in storing and organizing healthcare items. Additionally, it provided an ample, clean workspace to conduct nursing procedures.

“Patient-caregiver dyads were key stakeholders in our study,” the researchers said. “They provided valuable feedback and suggestions on the prototype and design of the integrated structure.”

Home setting

Changing healthcare needs, as well as expedited hospital discharge and ongoing care plans, would push the need to provide healthcare services at home. [Appl Ergon 2014;45:1687-1699]

“While the visiting nurse continues to provide healthcare alone in the home setting without the adequate resources that are typically available in a hospital environment, it is key to understand the challenges and develop mitigating strategies to address these challenges and optimize healthcare delivery in the home setting,” the researchers said. [Home Health Care Manag Pract 2005;17:113-118]

Notably, improvements in the delivery of healthcare in the home setting could result in increased well-being, comfort, and safety not just to patients but also to caregivers. [Appl Ergon 2014;45:1687-1699]

“Our findings also suggest that the HaH Buddy can be useful and practical to use in our local home setting and layout,” the researchers said. “The HaH Buddy also created a clean and convenient workspace for the visiting nurse.”

Further research could focus on improving the experience of healthcare providers and patients in the Hospital at Home programs, according to the researchers. “The HaH Buddy can be further improvised to cater to the various needs of the patients enrolled in the Hospital at Home programs.”