Technology, Care Coordination, and Community Resources Considerations Essay

Technology, Care Coordination, and Community Resources Considerations Essay

Technology, Care Coordination, and Community Resources Considerations Essay

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a significant health problem affecting older adults from 65 years. The risk of developing AD increases with age, making the condition more common among older adults.AD is characterized by a decline in cognitive function and overall poor health status, which puts them at risk of social isolation, exploitation, and elderly abuse (Astell et al., 2019). The purpose of this paper is to discuss how healthcare technology, coordination of care, and community resources can be applied to address AD in seniors. In addition, the paper will report on the second two hours of the practicum.

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Part 1

The Impact of Health Care Technology on AD

Various existing technologies have the potential to support seniors with AD and their caregivers through all the disease stages. Shu and Woo (2021) explain that technological advancements present potential benefits in easing the caregiver burden of caring for a family member with AD and enabling persons with AD to age in place. Healthcare technological devices help improve the tracking, functioning, and mobility of AD patients.

Wearable technology is one of the healthcare technologies that impact the care of AD patients. Wrist-worn devices impact vital aspects of AD management by giving insight into various factors that are significant determinants of health and wellbeing for AD patients. The devices provide quantified data on patients’ sleep and physical activity. Besides, more advanced technology has embedded arrhythmia and fall detection, heart rate monitor, and GPS (Shu & Woo, 2021). The wearable technology guides health providers in clinical decisions since it simplifies and eases data collection in a way previously impossible. Most wearable technologies available on the market are easy to use for seniors. However, they are associated with shortcomings such as technical difficulties, poor or unfashionable design of the device, and poor data quality (Chong et al., 2020). Furthermore, ethical and privacy issues may arise when the devices are hacked and third parties access the health data.

Smart homes are another healthcare technology that impacts AD care. According to Astell et al. (2019), Cognitive Assistive Technologies integrate sensors with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning implanted in living environments to create smart homes, which detect and analyze patients’ health and other events. Smart homes refer to home equipment with sensors and various technologies that enable the monitoring of residents living in the home to promote physical independence, improve quality of life, and reduce caregiver burden. The technology provides a wide range of services from home automation of appliances, lighting systems, and temperature to remote monitoring of individuals’ wellbeing and safety (Amiribesheli & Bouchachia, 2018).

Alexa-enabled home devices and Alexa Care Hub by Amazon are examples of Smart homes providing voice-activated smart speakers, connected smart home devices, and remote smart home monitoring. Smart home support technologies support AD patients to have a better quality of life by supporting them to independently age in place (Amiribesheli & Bouchachia, 2018). However, the technology helps if it is designed by considering the typical needs of its users. Besides, the high cost of installing smart home devices is a barrier to many families.

How Care Coordination and the Utilization of Community Resources Can Address AD

AD patients often need healthcare services from various providers, but the care is usually disintegrated and uncoordinated. Care coordination for AD patients aims to address their multidisciplinary needs and improve their health outcomes. It also seeks to delay admission to long-term care facilities and lower health care costs connected with repeated services from various health providers (Chen et al., 2020). The care coordinator usually assesses the patient’s needs and preferences and communicates them to the interdisciplinary team. This addresses AD by guiding providers in delivering safe, appropriate, effective, and relevant patient care (Chen et al., 2020). In addition, the care coordinator outlines priorities in AD management like meeting a patient’s physical, cognitive, social, and financial needs and improving the health outcomes and the quality of life.

Care coordination addresses AD by improving patients’ health outcomes either by delaying the progression of the disease or preventing AD comorbidities. Besides, it has the potential to address the multidisciplinary needs of AD persons and informal caregivers and enhance their health outcomes (Chen et al., 2020). Community resources available for seniors with AD include AD education programs, adult day care centers, and support groups. AD education programs include caregiver education and training programs and coaching services, which can equip caregivers with knowledge and skills in providing home care to AD patients (Nadash et al., 2019). This can improve health outcomes by preventing AD complications associated with ineffective home care.   Furthermore, support groups can prevent comorbidities such as depression, often caused by social isolation. Barriers to using community resources include limited access due to distance or lack of knowledge on where to find them.

State Board Nursing Practice Standards or Organizational/ Governmental Policies

State board nursing practice standards associated with healthcare technology include the American Nurses Association (ANA) code of ethics for nurses. It instructs that healthcare services provided via health technologies should prioritize improving access to quality healthcare founded on accepted clinical standards, the best available evidence, and best practices (ANA, 2019). Thus care of patients with AD should involve implementing suitable technological modalities that meet patients’ needs. Besides, the technology should also be easy to implement, practical, and aligned with the patient’s location and care setting.

Governmental policies on care coordination include the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which aims to enhance the quality of care coordination across healthcare systems. The ACA has multiple sections containing new care coordination programs pertinent to the care coordination of geriatric patients. In addition, the ACA includes care coordination provisions under Medicare and Medicaid, which enhance care coordination by situating quality care incentives and moving towards coherent, integrated care (Nadash et al., 2019).

Nursing practice standards associated with community resources include the essential competencies for a BSN-prepared nurse by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). A BSN-prepared nurse is expected to provide comprehensive, patient-centered care across the lifespan, the health-illness continuum, and in every healthcare setting (Giddens et al., 2022). Besides, the BSN nurse is expected to have the knowledge and skills to evaluate and improve available community resources when caring for populations.

Part 2

            The second two practicum hours were spent in a priesthood missionary home in Connecticut. The missionary home is inhabited by retired Fathers and priests. From the interactions with the retired Fathers and priests, it was found that they do not have access to technological devices such as wearable devices or smart home sensors to monitor the older adults and alleviate the workload for nurses. The facility only has smoke sensors for fir safety. However, some individuals have decreased hearing loss and are thus unable to hear warning sounds of fire or a smoke alarm, which creates a significant fire risk. The decrease in reaction time and awareness places the older adults in the missionary home at a higher risk of fire, fire injury, and fatality.

            Reviews from evidence-based literature assert that attention needs to be placed on making the required improvements to reduce fire risk in settings with older adults, especially those with hearing impairment. Besides, Smart home technology can notify about risk situations at a resident care facilities and take action for the residents to their satisfaction. A plan to address the problem change was discussed, including having safety sensors. It was agreed that smart water-leak sensor technology could be set up near areas likely to have water leaks, such as the sink, bathtubs, and toilets, to reduce falls caused by slippery floors. It was fascinating that the retired priests and fathers used social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. The priests and fathers can use these platforms to acquire and share health information on AD care.

Conclusion

            Integration of existing and future healthcare technology presents a major opportunity for relieving the burden of caring for AD patients on individuals, families, and the healthcare system. Healthcare technologies sued include wearable devices and smart home technology. Care coordination for AD seeks to address patients’ multidisciplinary needs and improve health outcomes. Besides, community resources for AD seek to alleviate caregiver burden and improve patients’ quality of life.

References

Amiribesheli, M., & Bouchachia, H. (2018). A tailored smart home for dementia care. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 9(6), 1755-1782. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-017-0645-7

American Nurses Association. (2019, June). ANA Core Principles On Connected Health Mapped To The Code Of Ethics For Nurses With Interpretive Statements. https://www.nursingworld.org/~491792/globalassets/docs/ana/practice/connected-health-prinicples-and-code-of-ethics-2019

Astell, A. J., Bouranis, N., Hoey, J., Lindauer, A., Mihailidis, A., Nugent, C., & Robillard, J. M. (2019). Technology and dementia: The future is now. Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders, 47(3), 131-139.

Chen, B., Cheng, X., Streetman-Loy, B., Hudson, M. F., Jindal, D., & Hair, N. (2020). Effect of care coordination on patients with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. The American Journal of Managed Care, 26(11), e369-e375.

Chong, K., Guo, J. Z., Deng, X., & Woo, B. (2020). Consumer Perceptions of Wearable Technology Devices: Retrospective Review and Analysis. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(4), e17544. https://doi.org/10.2196/17544

Giddens, J., Douglas, J. P., & Conroy, S. (2022). The Revised AACN Essentials: Implications for Nursing Regulation. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 12(4), 16-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2155-8256(22)00009-6

Nadash, P., Silverstein, N. M., & Porell, F. (2019). The Dementia Care Coordination Program: Engaging Health Systems in Caregiver Supports. Dementia, 18(4), 1273-1285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301217697466

Shu, S., & Woo, B. K. (2021). Use of technology and social media in dementia care: Current and future directions. World journal of psychiatry, 11(4), 109–123. https://doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v11.i4.109

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Practicum Focus Sheet, Assessment 3
1
Practicum Focus Sheet
Assessment 3
Note: Expect to spend at least 2 hours with the patient, family, or group you’ll be working with
during this portion of your practicum, exploring issues of technology, care coordination, and
community resources associated with the health problem you’ve defined. This includes time
spent in consultation with subject matter or industry experts.
For this portion of your practicum, discuss in depth how health care technology, the coordination
of care, and the use of community resources can be applied to address the problem. Consider
the following questions to help guide your exploration of these aspects of the problem and make
the most of your time:
Technology
• Do they use a device, such as a blood pressure cuff, pulse oximeter, or glucose monitor,
to monitor the problem?
• Have they used a smartphone app to help manage the problem?
• Would telehealth be an option to help manage the problem?
• Are any websites used to obtain more information about the problem?
Care Coordination and Community Resources
• Have home care, physical therapy, dialysis, or other types of care been used to manage
the problem?
• Is transportation available to travel to problem-related appointments?
• Have support groups been helpful in addressing the problem?
• Hav religious institutions been helpful in managing the problem?