Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1991.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1990.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1994. / Thesis date from spine.

The development of innovative techniques in healthcare leveraged, significantly, the life expectancy of human beings. This new scenario raises concern in society to create a health care network able to absorb this demand and provide conditions for access to a range of needs. The decreasing family constitution and the increasing number of seniors are targeted to meet this emerging new customer, independent, connected technologies and services often alone. The figure of Home Care in this environment provides an inherent carefully for the characteristics of these people, who depend on daily monitoring of health and quality of life. The advent of computer technology streamlines this interaction, creating a support capable of providing real-time monitoring of physical conditions that might suggest a situation of medical emergency or specific monitoring of the person. The study advocated here is to create an information network for home monitoring via Home Care. The system, through pervasive computing, will capture vital signs through electronic devices and other relevant information conditions of the person. Be able to trigger a predetermined career or monitoring center, in specific cases, where an official with technical expertise in the healthy area, take steps to stabilize the frame. The same system will be able to store all kinds of information captured or entered by the professional records and issue reports as requested . / O desenvolvimento de técnicas inovadoras na área de saúde alavancou, de forma significativa, a expectativa de vida do ser humano. Esse novo cenário gera na sociedade a preocupação de criar uma rede assistencial capaz de absorver essa demanda e oferecer condições de acesso aos mais variados tipos de necessidades. A constituição familiar decrescente e o aumento do número de idosos fazem surgir serviços direcionados a atender esse novo cliente, independente, conectado as tecnologias e muitas vezes sozinho. A figura da Home Care, nesse ambiente, proporciona um cuidado inerente as características dessas pessoas, que dependem de uma monitorização diária da saúde e da qualidade de vida. O advento da informática agiliza essa interação, criando um suporte capaz de oferecer em tempo real uma monitorização de condições físicas que podem sugerir uma situação de urgência médica ou de acompanhamento específico da pessoa. O estudo aqui defendido é a criação de uma rede de informações para monitorização residencial via Home Care. O sistema, através de computação pervasiva, fará a captação de sinais vitais por meio de dispositivos eletrônicos e de outras informações pertinentes as condições da pessoa. Será capaz de acionar um cuidador pré-determinado ou uma central de monitoramento, em casos específicos, onde um responsável, com capacitação técnica na área de saúde, tomará providências para o atendimento do paciente. O mesmo sistema será capaz de armazenar todo tipo de informação captada ou inserida pelo profissional no prontuário e emitir relatórios conforme solicitação.

Magister Scientiae - MSc (Mathematics) / The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Zambia has led to the development of innovative ways of coping with sickness related to this infection. HIV/AIDS home-based care is one such innovation designed in Chikankata Hospital in 1987. Home-based care depends on the availability of family members and community volunteers in the provision of care and support for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).This minithesis is based on a qualitative descriptive case study exploring perspectives regarding skills, supervision and support mechanisms for carers in the Chikankata HIV/AIDS Community-Home Based Care (CHBC) program. The study utilized documented research, focus group discussions with carers and structured interviews with local CHBC supervisors, national experts in CHBC, and PLWHA and their families, to collect data from 32 study participants.The findings were that CHBC was being delivered by community volunteers with limited involvement from the local health services; that carers were highly motivated, personally and collectively mobilizing resources to meet the needs of CHBC clientele; that local arrangements for training, skills and support of carers were not aligned to national guidelines regarding process, content and duration of programmes; and that carers acquired skills in CHBC through formal and informal training processes and were facing challenges related to inadequate skills, poor infrastructure and extreme poverty in households caring for PLWHA.Based on the findings the local arrangements for coordination of CHBC need to be strengthened and linked to formal processes for technical support, financial resources and materials for delivery of CHBC in line with existing guidelines on CHBC. The picture of the real situation of the carers that emerges from this qualitative study might inform the supervising organizations and policymakers on the gaps in the training and support of this crucial cadre in the provision of quality care for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) at community level. / South Africa

The health care systems of developing countries, which are already weak, have to carry an additional strain brought on by the burden of infectious diseases. This added strain means that the health care provided is not of the highest quality. The use of home community based care (HCBC) was introduced as an attempt to provide basic health care services to people through the services of community health care workers (CHCW). With the development of HCBC in developing countries and the CHCW playing a vital role in ensuring that the lives of people living with diseases are improved, the need for information and communication technology (ICT) solutions is increased. The information that is collected by the CHCW is paper-based and it cannot be analysed and used efficiently and effectively. This study embraces the adoption of a socio-technical perspective when an ICT solution is introduced in an environment. A socio-technical perspective focuses on three dimensions: the user, the environment and the technology used. These three need to be in coherence to ensure that the technology is used effectively by the user within the environment. Therefore the objective of this study is to identify a list of socio-technical factors that affect CHCWs when they are using mobile phones for data collection purposes in home community based care. In order to achieve this it was necessary to understand how the socio-technical subsystems of the HCBC environment are constituted. The study followed a qualitative approach, including interviews and observations, to collect the data which will best enable the researcher to understand the home community based care environment, its people and the use of the technology to collect data in this environment, in particular mobile phones. A qualitative content analysis approach was followed to analyse the data and constitute a list of factors affecting the use of mobile devices for remote data collection in home community based care. It is hoped that this research will assist to inform the design of appropriate mobile health applications to both ease the burden of CHCWs (i.e. it should be faster and easier to use than paper) and improve the healthcare service provided through enabling access to patient records to all partners in the care continuum.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of nontreatable dementia, a syndrome which reflects a progressive and global impairment of memory, intellect, and other cognitive abilities. This devastating condition directly touches the lives of as many as 10 million Americans, including not only persons suffering from the disease but their primary caregivers and other family members as well. At present the course of AD cannot be halted or reversed, and no cure is known. The problem, then, is how to most effectively respond to the psychosocial needs of primary caregivers in order to help them provide the best possible care for a loved one with AD.

No description available.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att fånga vårdtagares upplevelser av självbestämmande.Bakgrund: Sverige har under de senaste åren dragit ner på platsernainom särskilt boende och istället satsat på hemtjänst och hemsjukvård. Enligtlag ska sjukvården värna om vårdtagarens självbestämmande oavsett var vårdenges. Metod: Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes inom två olika distrikt isödra Sverige. Datamaterialet analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållanalys.Resultat: I studiens resultat framkom att vårdtagarna upplevde att de haft inflytandeunder den samordande vårdplaneringen och de flesta var nöjda medresultatet av besluten. Dock upplevde vårdtagarna att det ibland var svårt att påverkaden dagliga vården. Informanterna hade en önskan om att kunna påverkasovtiderna utefter behov och ha ökad tillgänglighet till extra hjälp vid behov. Detvar viktigt för vårdtagarna att ha samma personal och att det skulle finnas mer tidför hjälp. / Aim: The aim of this study is to capture home care patients’ experiences of selfdetermination.Background: In Sweden the number of residents in nursing homeshas decreased; the government has instead invested in home care services. Accordingto Swedish law, the health care system must preserve patients’ rights andself-determination, regardless to where the care is located. Method: Semistructuredinterviews were performed in two different districts in the south ofSweden. The data was analysed with qualitative content analysis. Result: Patientsreported that they experienced that their voices were heard during the care planningconference and were satisfied with the decisions that had been made. However,the patients experienced some difficulties influencing their daily care. Theinformants had a desire to be able to affect their sleep cycles based on their needsand wants, in addition to having an extended accessibility to extra care when required.It was important for the informants to have the same staff and get moretime for assistance.