Authors (including presenting author) :
Cheng KC(1), Chung PH(1), Wong HL(1), Yu WK(1), Chen CW(1), Tsang MP(1), Mak YY(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Physiotherapy Department, Tai Po Hospital
Introduction :
Carer refers to an individual who is responsible in taking care of patient after discharge from hospital. Carer training is one of the core physiotherapy services to ensure that carer acquires proper skills to take care of patient at home with confidence. In-person carer training might not be possible to carry out due to different access barriers, such as transportation issues or during disease outbreak where hospital visits are not allowed. Current solution is to provide training content to the carer through telephone consultation. However, the content delivered to the carer is usually limited. Tele-physiotherapy employing information and telecommunication technologies had been tested to be effective in facilitating patients' rehabilitation at home. These technologies can provide training to carer with visual information on real patient, which improves care-giver training service under special circumstances.
Objectives :
1) To test the feasibility of tele-carer training in improving the access of carers before patient discharge
2) To develop carer’s understanding of patient’s needs, and confidence in executing transfer and mobility skills with patients at home
Methodology :
Preparation phase:
• Establishing criteria of target patients in need of tele-carer training
• Exploring online platform such as wechat, whatsapp and skype as tools to deliver real time demonstration to carers
• Preparing educational pamphlets in electronic version
• Allocating areas for tele-carer training in gym and ward
• Developing the logistic of implementation and evaluation process
• Creating online evaluation form to collect carers feedback
Implementation phase:
• Conducting tele-carer training and provide electronic educational pamphlets
• Collecting carers’ immediate feedback after conduction of carer training and follow up feedback after patient discharge home
• Review logistic of implementation and evaluation process as needed
Result & Outcome :
Feasibility of this project is considered in several aspects, which includes duration of training, tele-communication software readiness and venue availability for tele-carer training. 15 patients were participated in this project. The average duration of tele-carer training is 17.2 minutes, which is similar to the amount of time spent on conventional carer training. Therapists have adequate equipment and technical knowledge to use a range of tele-communication software to conduct training. Home-based tele-carer training is the majority use of delivery mode (73%) throughout the project. If a carer is not competent to use tele-communication software at home by self, hospital-based tele-carer training can also be arranged in a designated room in the department and technical support can therefore be provided by staff. Scoring in the questionnaire shows that carers generally find tele-carer training useful, and this mode of delivery increases their confidence in taking care of patients at home. They also find that the caring techniques learnt from a live video demonstration can be carried over to real life application, even though hands-on techniques cannot be provided. In conclusion, the result of this project shows that tele-carer training is feasible to be conducted to improve the access of carers before patient discharge. It can also develop carer’s understanding of patient’s needs, and confidence in executing transfer and mobility skills with patients at home.
