Help2care: ehealth strategies for self care of users and caregivers based on Nightingale's work

Rev Bras Enferm. 2020 Nov 16;73(suppl 5):e20200358. doi: 10.1590/0034-7167-2020-0358. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Objective: To report the experience of design and implementation of the Help2Care (an ehealth program that aims to support informal caregivers of dependent people); and to identify its structure and functionality.

Methods: This is a Portuguese experience report about Help2Care, a practice-based action research project carried out between 2017 and 2019, having as a guiding axis Florence Nightingale's concepts about the relevance of the home-care environment.

Results: The Help2Care program revealed itself to be a valuable support tool for providing better healthcare learning, counselling, and assistance of the informal caregivers of dependent people. Different ehealth strategies were used to empower caregivers in self-care in order to have a safe transition between contexts of care at the time of patient discharge.

Conclusion: Help2Care allows to inspire other ways of providing care, as well as a reduction in the readmission rate in health organizations for patients who reveal poor care support in home environments.

MeSH terms

  • Caregivers
  • Delivery of Health Care
  • Home Care Services*
  • Humans
  • Self Care
  • Telemedicine*