Transitioning healthcare to our homes

Medical Plastics News editor Laura Hughes explains how healthcare is transitioning into our homes.

During the Covid-19 pandemic we have all been forced to spend a large amount of time in our homes. Activities such as working and studying, which are typically done in schools and external places of work, have in many cases been shifted to take place at home.

Although I’m sure many parents and children are looking forward to when schools are a safe environment for them to return to, employees who can work from home may find this is preferable or an option that suits their lifestyle. There’s no need to travel, and any help you might require from a colleague is only a phone call or text away.

In the same way, healthcare devices that can be used in the home are becoming increasingly desirable. For instance, in the case of a life-long indication such as chronic kidney disease, dialysis can now be done from home. This involves training for the person who would be receiving the treatment, as well as one other person who would be able to assist them with this from the comfort of their own home. Hemodialysis often takes place around three times a week in a center, with sessions lasting for a few hours each time. This means the option of carrying out this treatment at home provides those with chronic kidney disease with the ability to better fit their treatment around their daily schedule.

Type 1 diabetes is another chronic condition which allows people to predominantly manage their monitoring and treatment from home on a day-to-day basis. Advances in healthcare allow those with the condition to only need to visit healthcare professionals around every three months.

Additionally, Wessex Cancer Trust announced that as part of a new project, MacMillan and the National Health Service within the UK, would be offering chemotherapy treatment by trained paramedics or nurses to cancer patients living within a certain region. As chemotherapy is often associated with unpleasant side effects, it is clear to see why many people would opt to receive this treatment at home if this was available to them.

We are witnessing a shift in the management of our healthcare. Previously we queued up at surgeries to book appointments with healthcare professionals, and we waited on the phone at a certain time to book an appointment, but now online booking systems are slowly becoming the norm. There are also phone numbers other than the emergency line to call for instant advice from a trained professional from any location.

The availability of these medical interventions from home, and methods of communicating with healthcare professionals, were of course available before the Covid-19 pandemic. However, as restrictions are lifted, I think we will all be returning to a different version of ‘normal’, and the popularity of healthcare management from the comfort of our own homes will continue to rise.