Life for premature babies is often better at home than at the hospital. Their relationships with parents and siblings are more natural and they are less likely to contract diseases spread in hospitals. Using a new Internet service developed and tested at Chalmers, patients may stay at home and receive better monitoring by and dialogue with health care professionals.

Anna Gund, who defended her doctoral dissertation in December 2011, has been working with the new Internet service Care@Distance. It includes a website where the chronically ill, or parents of newborns who need close monitoring, regularly submit readings and other data related to the patient's health status. In this way, health care professionals get constant information about patients without having to be right there.

Based on available technology via Internet
"Similar systems have been tested on a project level with positive results, but it seems difficult to incorporate them into routine health care," explains Anna Gund. "We have developed a system based on technology already in use in most homes, and we believe that this may facilitate wider distribution."

Chalmers researchers therefore developed and tested a simple, inexpensive and adjustable system in which patients and health care professionals only need a computer or a smart phone with Internet access. Most of the other systems are built with components that are often more expensive and more difficult to learn to use. Care@Distance was tested in two different groups. First with older people with chronic heart failure and then with premature babies. In both cases, the solution works well, but results show that a key factor is whether health care professionals really embrace the technology and provide regular feedback on the data the patient send in.

"In cases where they have done so, patients are very positive and feel safer and happier," says Anna Gund. "But when this doesn't happen, the patients were, on the contrary, negative. The feedback required entails that someone looking at the data that was sent in and answering any questions."

Anna Gund has also conducted a survey of what health care professionals think of using ICT support in their work. It shows that in general they are very interested and have great confidence in the technology. In reality, though, it became evident that some staff used Care@Distance as intended, while others did not. Anna Gund's future research will focus on identifying the cause of this discrepancy. She will also investigate how Care@Distance affects health care finances and health care results.

Care@Distance - A complement to improve health care
Care@Distance is not meant to replace human contact. Rather it should be a complement that improves the health care available within today's budget constraints and which improves dialogue and quality of life. Families with a newborn child who needs health care are often most comfortable staying at home, if possible. Care@Distance makes this possible since support can be provided through improved monitoring and dialogue.

"Moreover, many dangerous diseases and resistant bacteria are spread in hospitals," says Anna Gund. "At home you can avoid that." She has also tested the video telephony service, Skype, to improve dialogue between parents and health care personnel, and that resource was much appreciated.

For more information, contact:
Anna Gund, Institutionen för signaler och system
anna.gund@chalmers.se
031-772 1783, 070-718 5911

Bengt Arne Sjöqvist, handledare och adjungerad professor på Institutionen för signaler och system bengt.arne.sjoqvist@chalmers.se
070-787 7797

Links:

http://www.chalmers.se/en/research/professors/interview/Pages/interview-with-bengt-arne-sjoqvist-healthcare-informatics.aspx

http://www.chalmers.se/sv/nyheter/Sidor/Internettjanst-forbattrar-varden-för-nyfodda-och-kroniskt-sjuka.aspx