Post Archive by Month

Below you'll find a list of all posts from April, 2017

Aetonix

Chronic Wounds are an Epidemic, but There’s a Solution

It’s an epidemic. And few people outside of the health care industry know anything about it. Wounds cost the Canadian health care system $3.9 billion annually—an astonishing statistic. Some of the most costly wounds are chronic, meaning they don’t heal in regular stages over a predictable period of time. But health care dollars aren’t the only concern. All too often, patients

Aetonix

Wound Care: 3 Principles for Treating Complex Patients

One-third of all home care patients have wound care needs. We’ve used this statistic on the Aetonix blog before, but it bears repeating. The demand for enterostomal therapy nurses (ENTs) is high. So high, in fact, that it’s outstripping the supply of trained specialists. This is bad news for patients—especially those who receive care at home. Of course, it’s not only patients

Aetonix

Evaluating Health Care Innovation with Triple Aim

The health care needs of Canadians are changing. Our population is aging, and rates of chronic and complex disease are on the rise. To tackle these challenges, health care leaders are exploring innovative solutions. While many of these solutions are promising, they can’t be implemented haphazardly. The outcomes of new models of care and efficiency-enhancing technologies need to be tracked.

COPD Education – Continuous Maintenance

Objective
To cover in depth all the necessary elements of self-management education as per the LWWCOPD, with priorities based on patient goals and identified treatable traits

Actors
Patient, Educator (Nurse, RT or Physician)

Timelines
A number of “Core” educational modules have been identified which cover the basic COPD education from the LWWCOPD program. Additionally, optional modules can be used to respond to patient needs. The timeline (frequency, number of modules to be covered at a given education session) is fully customizable, although we recommend to have education sessions every 2-weeks during the “active” phase of education. Once this is completed, the patient continues to the Maintenance Mode (see below).

Description

Launched at the onboarding protocol
Provide basic overview of COPD self-management based on LWWCOPD (medication adherence, inhaler techniques, PLB technique & energy conservation) up to the development of an Action plan for early exacerbation recognition and management.
Prioritize self-learning by the patient (e.g. watching videos, reading educational materials, completing homework) in addition to live sessions with the Educator. Educational materials are sent to the patient directly via the platform, and become the patient’s own library. The Educator can customize which “homework” the patient receives.
Educators have access to “User guides” to standardise their educational intervention. These user guides include: objectives, interventions, suggested questions, evaluation of self-efficacy, and learning contracts for each module.
Once the core education is completed, the patient can continue to the Respiratory Status Follow-up Workflow (run in parallel)

The Maintenance Mode

As soon as the maintenance mode is engaged, the frequency of visits Educator/Patient is reduced to once every 6 months.
During the Maintenance Mode sessions, the educator has access to all the education modules and can choose any piece of content that needs to covered with the patient.
A streamlined evaluation (similar to the initial eval.) is done during each “maintenance” visit to identify any substantial changes on the patient’s needs that will require some adjustment. The patient could come back to an “active” education mode (more frequent education sessions, e.g. every 2 weeks).