For a recent HTN Now virtual discussion, we were joined by panellists including self-management specialist Stephanie Lowen; Dee McMullan, senior district nurse at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, and Charlotte Furness, partnerships lead at Isla Health, to talk about the implementation of supported self-care.
Considering the sort of support structures necessary for successful self-care implementation, Steph said that education is first and foremost required across different NHS roles: “As we move towards using digital platforms, it’s important that we have a very clear, sustainable approach – not only for clinicians, but for the individual, too,” she reflected. “We need to ensure that we are keeping that person-centred approach from the beginning of that journey.”
Charlotte highlighted Isla’s research on health disparities, and how her team has worked “to ensure that our technology is easy for both patients and clinicians; as if it’s not easy for patients to use and engage with then the pathway isn’t going to work”. So far, she continued, this research has shown that in order to achieve high levels of patient engagement across broad patient caseloads “we need to make the digital flow as low friction and as simple as possible”.
Dee noted: “Let’s give our staff the permission to empower their patients. Let’s promote across the country that it is OK to self-care; and let’s support them to have the best pathway and best treatment they can have. This can be used in absolutely any service – podiatry, district nursing, catheter clinics, and more.”
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