Doyle, Julie and McAleer, Patricia and van Leeuwen, Cora and Smith, Suzanne and Murphy, Emma and Sillevis Smitt, Myriam and Galvin, Mary and Jacobs, An and Tompkins, Lorraine and Sheerin, James and Dinsmore, John (2022) The role of phone-based triage nurses in supporting older adults with multimorbidity to digitally self-manage – Findings from the ProACT proof-of-concept study. Digital Health, 8. pp. 1-17. ISSN 2055-2076

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Abstract

Background: Achieving patient-centred care necessitates supporting individuals to have more involvement in the self-management of their care. Digital health technologies are widely recognised as a solution to empower more effective self-management. However, given the complexity of multiple chronic condition (multimorbidity) management, coupled with changes that occur as part of the normal ageing process, human support alongside digital self-management is often necessary for older people with multimorbidity (PwM) to sustain successful self-management. Methods: The aim of the study was to explore the role played by a clinical, nurse-led telephone triage service in responding to alerts generated by older adults using a digital health platform, ProACT, to self-manage multiple chronic conditions over a period of 1 year. Semi-structured interviews with participants with multimorbidity were carried out across four time points during the trial, while interviews and focus groups were conducted with triage nurses at the end of the trial. Thematic analysis was conducted on the resulting transcripts. Results: Themes found in the data include the work of triage nurses; the benefits of triage support; tensions such as anxiety due to patient monitoring; and the relationship between triage nurses and participants. Discussion: This work contributes to an understanding of how older adults with multimorbidity and triage nurses collaborate in multiple chronic disease self-management. Findings are discussed within the context of Hudon et al.'s patient-centred care framework and indicate that patient-centred care was achieved, with both PwM and triage participants reporting positive experiences, relationships and several benefits of the triage support alongside digital self-management.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Multimorbidity; digital health; self-management; older adults; clinical triage; integrated care;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Design Innovation
Item ID:	18691
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221131140
Depositing User:	Mary Galvin
Date Deposited:	25 Jun 2024 15:36
Journal or Publication Title:	Digital Health
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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