Integrated Analysis
- Tamara Perry
- Jul 27, 2019
- 6 min read
MHST 601 has provided a contemporary overview of health in Canada by developing a learning community of other MHST students (Athabasca University, 2019). Our first assignment in the course challenged me to reflect on my image in terms of a professional presence. It became quickly apparent that despite being a millennial, I have essentially isolated myself by having a very superficial social media presence. As a leader for Alberta Health Services, there is much time and effort spent in my working day, promoting material created by the organization to the employees I lead. An unpleasant observation I have made is that due to the many menial tasks required of a front-line leader, there is often minimal time that could be dedicated to furthering professional development, including formulating own thoughts and opinions, which has resulted in essentially stunting my professional growth.
Discussion with classmates in our weekly forums and browsing on my new Twitter and Linkedin accounts have heightened my desire to take a broader look at health and wellness as it applies to Canadians, rather than concentrating solely on Albertans. Rather than wasting time browsing Facebook during the few brief moments of dullness in the day, I am finding myself resorting to Linkedin to enhance my knowledge of current events, gain access to the newest research projects and to connect with other professionals with similar interests.
My previous practice of referring back to articles, postings or papers, would have me resorting to the idea that if I found it once, surely I can find it again. It wasn’t until the first few weeks of class, that I learned of the many programs and applications that are available to file this information away in an organized fashion for future use. As a fan of the Post-It Note, I had initially thought I would use a simple application called Stickie, then transcribe these into a Word document for filing (Wikipedia, 2018). It took approximately 1 week to determine that this plan was cumbersome and inefficient, leading me to seek other options. Several of my classmates had shared on Twitter that they were going to be using Pocket, which as an avid Pinterest user, I instantly loved! Barring any application problems, I see this as a sustainable content curation method.
The intention of units 4 and 5 were to prepare me for our second assignment. The description of the assignment was quite straightforward, however my execution of this was not done well. Again, I struggled with putting my own thoughts and opinions together with curated information. Through discussion in unit 6 and 7 forums, I realized my error of choosing a chronic health condition that was not necessarily directly related to my current role and failure to provide specific details of the multilevel health model in question. I am taking this assignment as a second attempt at applying the concepts.
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Adapted from McLeroy, K. R., Steckler, A. and Bibeau, D. (Eds.) (1988). The social ecology of health promotion interventions. Health Education Quarterly, 15(4):351-377. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://tamhsc.academia.edu/KennethMcLeroy/Papers/81901/An_Ecological_Perspective_on_Health_Promotion_Programs.
The socio-economic model of care focuses on multiple levels of health, including the individual, personal influences in daily life, institutions accessed by the individual, community involvement and public policy. Upon discussing this model, one of my very knowledgeable classmates presented a very important aspect upon its application to a health problem. “Point is some people may view this model as a ladder rather then a continuous spectrum where all the elements are of equal value, some focus on the community and ignore the individual, while others ignore the individual and focus on the organization, this model only works effectively if all the elements are seen as equal” (Naim Dalloul, personal communication, June 25, 2019).
Seniors within my community program frequently experience dementia in varying degrees. In terms of managing this condition, Alberta does quite a good job at applying this socio-ecological model. Starting with public policy, the Government of Alberta (2018) has enforced Continuing Care Health Service Standards, specifically standard 16.0 which speaks to restraint management. This standard dictates the operator must minimize the use of restraints as well as apply a very strict process for monitoring when restraints have been deemed appropriate. The CCHSS also requires all care staff, including HCA’s, LPN’s and RN’s take part in dementia education at least every 2 years (Government of Alberta, 2018).
Although our community does not have a Dementia Village as some communities do, allied health staff, including recreation therapists are continually researching ways in which to enhance the quality of life for our residents through their carefully thought our programming.
Activities such as music therapy, pet therapy, appropriate outings, baking activities, development and use of activity boards, dolls and pictures have helped create a sense of purpose in our dementia residents. Having 4 large pods, interconnected within a large LTC unit, secured with locking double doors, our residents have a very large area to which they can explore without needing to be restrained.
The Alzheimer Society (2018), feels that the application of person-centered care is necessary in order to maintain dignity, respect and the ability to participate safely in their environment. Within the community there has been increased awareness with the intention of supporting caregivers, offering support groups and decreasing the stigma. Alberta Health Services offers a 24-hour advice line for clients or their caregivers to call when in need (Alberta Health Services, 2019). Arming clients, their loved ones and staff with the tools to properly address this widespread health condition will undoubtedly improve patient, family and staff resiliency.
Advancements in information technology are essential to continue to provide high quality, cost-effective care for our patients. Ontario has developed a Telehomecare program which uses smart technology to offer remote patient monitoring connecting the patient and the healthcare provider for weekly coaching sessions. The 6-month pilot program resulted in increased patient satisfaction, reduced primary care provider visits as well as less need for unscheduled ER visits (Canadian Home Care Association, October 2016).
Alberta Health Services has started their provincewide launch of Connect Care, which will have the ability to share information between healthcare providers, teams and the patients themselves. This will allow the organization and the patients it serves to have access to the most up to date information and enable more consistent care across the province (Alberta Health Services, 2019). As a professional employed with AHS, I am very excited to be able to offer this service to our clients, in the fall of 2020.
Pharmacists are also recognizing the potential in currently used technology being optimized to the point of being useful to health care providers. The ability of the Apple watch to monitor a person’s health status through a built-in electrocardiogram expands the human mind to many other possibilities (Plasencia, 2019).
Pushing the boundaries of privacy, “Amazon is using its Alexa technology to monitor patients’ stress levels by measuring changes in their voice while they are at home. This is not only a means to inform health professionals when someone is ill, but the data can be fed back into the R&D stage of treatment paths and used to accelerate the development of new methods (Plasencia, 2019).”In the same vein, another opportunity for health monitoring could include home cameras monitoring changes in a person’s gait over time, predicting osteoarthritic changes. The balance between artificial intelligence and privacy can be a delicate one.
Over the past 13 weeks, I have learned a great deal about myself as a professional and have taken the opportunity to engage with others using Twitter and Linkedin. I have become more comfortable in using these applications as an interface to which I can learn about new initiatives and build my professional network. I have had the opportunity to trial several methods of curating resources and have settled on Pocket as my first choice. I have worked through some academic challenges in terms of appropriate application of a health model to a health problem and am more satisfied with my progress to date.
Looking ahead, our future is bright! Technology is advancing to the point where we can apply it to health promotion and early detection. Access to a specialty is no longer limited to urban living patients. Making connections with all members of the health care team, regardless of their location will improve the patient/provider experience as well as overall health outcomes (Canadian Home Care Association, November 2016).
References
Alberta Health Services. (2019). Connect Care. Retrieved from
Alberta Health Services. (2019). Dementia Advice. Retrieved from
Alzheimer’s Society. (2018). Culture change towards person centred care. Retrieved from
Athabasca University. (2019). Master of Health Studies (MHST) 601: Critical Foundations in
Health Disciplines. Retrieved from https://www.athabascau.ca/syllabi/mhst/mhst601.php
Canadian Home Care Association. (October 2016). Telehomecare in Ontario: Better Health, at
Home. Retrieved from http://www.cdnhomecare.ca/media.php?mid=4708
Canadian Home Care Association. (November 2016). Home is Best: Developing an Integrated
Primary and Home & Community Care System. Retrieved from http://www.cdnhomecare.ca/media.php?mid=4717
Government of Alberta. (2018). Continuing Care Health Service Standards (2018). Retrieved
McLeroy, K. R., Steckler, A. and Bibeau, D. (Eds.) (1988). The social ecology of health
promotion interventions. Health Education Quarterly, 15(4):351-377. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from http://tamhsc.academia.edu/KennethMcLeroy/Papers/81901/An_Ecological_Perspective_on_Health_Promotion_Programs.
Plasencia, A. R. (July 2019). Through the looking glass: A digital future for healthcare. Retrieved
Wikipedia. (2018). Stickies (Apple). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickies_(Apple)
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