Assessing the Problem – Technology, Care Coordination, and Community Resources Considerations
Members of the interdisciplinary team should collaborate effectively to manage Alzheimer’s disease. This paper discusses the use of health technology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) management. It also discusses care coordination and identifies community resources for people with AD. Furthermore, it describes policies and procedures and nursing ethics involved in the management of AD.
Part One
Impact of Health Care Technology
Optimal care and management of Alzheimer’s disease benefit significantly from healthcare technology. In this context, relevant technologies include telehealth and electronic medical records. Various types of telehealth technology have proved useful to patients with AD. To begin with, mobile health can be leveraged to optimize the management of AD. According to De Marchi et al. (2021), mobile health enhances care delivery by enhancing adherence to care plans and offering an avenue for education. Mobile health features such as reminder messages and alerts help to increase medication adherence (De Marchi et al., 2021). Healthcare practitioners leverage mobile health to send text and audio messages that aim to improve adherence to care plans and address any concerns. Alternatively, Sauer (2019) reports that prerecorded audio messages can be leveraged to alert patients and their caregivers to administer or take medication.
Secondly, De Marchi et al. (2021) report that remote patient monitoring facilitates patient follow-ups and provides an opportunity for prompt care delivery. In this regard, patients with AD use wearables and sensors that monitor their vitals and allow them to upload and email their vitals to the interdisciplinary team for review. Consequently, this facilitates perpetual patient monitoring and eliminates the necessity for in-person visits. Additionally, De Marchi et al. (2021) report that sensors enable caretakers and medical professionals to keep track of patients’ other behaviors, like sleep and exercise.
Thirdly, De Marchi et al. (2021) report that video conferencing allows healthcare practitioners to intervene promptly. Audio and video conferencing makes real-time communication between AD patients and families and healthcare practitioners easier (De Marchi et al., 2021). As a result, video conferencing allows patients to conduct specialty consultations virtually. For example, a patient’s clinician can use videoconferencing to personalize the treatment plan based on input from remote patient monitoring (De Marchi et al., 2021). Videoconferencing can also benefit patients with AD by allowing their healthcare providers to track the recommended lifestyle modification practices.
Electronic medical records (EMR) are another type of technology that impacts the management of AD. Electronic medical records allow healthcare practitioners to optimize workflow and formulate evidence-based care plans (Sutton et al., 2020). For instance, Sutton et al. (2020) report that clinical decision support systems in EMR systems are noteworthy because they are crucial to accurate diagnosis and the creation of treatment plans. According to Sutton et al. (2020), EMR systems also reduce the likelihood of medical errors by eliminating legibility errors to allow accurate information sharing among the interdisciplinary team. Therefore, EMR systems improve the quality of care by optimizing the decision-making process and improving clinical workflow.
Butzner and Cuffee (2021) identify some disadvantages of telehealth technology. To begin with, patients found in rural areas are likely to experience poor connectivity and limited broadband access. This limits access to healthcare services by the general population. Also, Butzner and Cuffee (2021) report that telehealth promotes patient visits to unknown healthcare providers. This may impede the creation of a therapeutic relationship and hinder the treatment process.
The evidence is harmonious with the technology that has been embraced at my place workplace. We leverage electronic medical record systems to improve the clinical decision-making process, minimize medical errors and optimize workflow. Also, we leverage telehealth technology to manage chronic illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease. To improve adherence to the treatment regimen, we employ mobile health features such as alarms and reminders. Additionally, we utilize video conferencing to accord patients’ concerns real-time feedback. Wearable technology is available to provide ongoing remote patient monitoring.
Potential Barriers and Costs
Numerous variables make telehealth less effective. Drees (2020) reports that a lack of digital literacy among medical professionals, patients, caregivers, and pa