Home healthcare in Iran: A hybrid concept analysis

Healthcare is changing from a focus on acute care health issues to one of managing chronic conditions. This change has resulted in the development of home health-care systems as a way of managing chronic conditions outside the hospital. The aim of this study was to analyze the concept of home healthcare using a hybrid model.

This hybrid concept analysis consisted of three phases: theoretical, fieldwork, and analytical. Science Direct, PubMed, ProQuest, and Scopus were searched with related terms in the theoretical phase. In the fieldwork phase, six professionals with experience in home healthcare were interviewed and after each interview, qualitative content analysis was conducted. During the final phase, descriptions and themes from the first two phases were combined.

In the theoretical phase, the definition of home healthcare included descriptions answering the Who, What, When, Where, and Why questions. In the fieldwork phase, the results were divided into three areas: 1-comprehensive care; 2-extent of services; and 3-outcomes. The final analysis phase of this study indicated that the home health-care concept is a comprehensive, professional, and holistic care system accompanied by medical services and professionals whose goals are to support an individual's health and provide care in their home. Healthcare provided in one's home was found to preserve a patient's dignity and reduce health-care costs.

The definition of the home healthcare concept establishes a foundation for developing a comprehensive home health-care system. This concept analysis for home healthcare could be a guide for future studies.