Older Adults and Healthcare Professional's Experiences of Telemonitoring in Primary Home-Based Care in Sweden: A...

Globally, the older population is rapidly increasing and might be a challenge for healthcare providers in the future. Therefore, new methods of providing home-based care are urgently needed. Telemonitoring (TM) has been proposed to optimize patient care and enhance remote monitoring and management by clinicians. This feasibility study aimed to describe the experiences and perceptions of home-based TM among older adults with chronic conditions and healthcare professionals (HCPs).

A feasibility study including interviews with older adults and diaries written by HCPs during the intervention. Participants were recruited from two municipalities in central Sweden. The intervention involved home-based TM for 4 months. TM systems, equipped with sensors for monitoring blood pressure, body weight, physical activity, and oxygen saturation, were tailored to individual needs and installed in participants' homes by an IT company. Data were collected between 2023 and 2024 and analysed using deductive content analysis regarding demand, acceptability, implementation and practicality, to examine whether TM is feasible in real-life settings.

The data collection included 12 older adults and 21 healthcare professionals. From interviews with older adults (n=4), and diaries (n=9) from HCPs. Older adults measured their blood pressure every morning and entered the data on a tablet. They reported becoming more aware of changes in their health, particularly with body weight and blood pressure. For sustained engagement and motivation, a comprehensive education plan for TM involving patients, relatives, and HCP is essential.

This study indicates that raising health awareness among older adults is positive and underscores the importance of person-centered care. However, some aspects were not fully realized in our study, highlighting the need for further research and refinement in TM implementation to better meet the needs of older adults and healthcare professionals.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04955600 registration date 2021-03-01.