Development of a home-based telehealthcare model for improving the effectiveness of the chronic care of stroke patients

This study describes the development of an information technology (IT)-mediated home-based healthcare model designed to improve the effectiveness of caring for stroke patients who require chronic, home care. This model was evaluated at Kaohsiung Medical Hospital in Taiwan between 2005 and 2008; 84 newly diagnosed stroke patients diagnosed as the chronic covalence stage were enrolled for preliminary testing of this model. These patients required 24-hour in-home monitoring of their health status and emergency call service. Over the course of the study, 15 emergency transfers were carried out, and the acute stroke patients were sent to the emergency care within 26 minutes, on average. This system helped physicians, patients, and their families to more efficiently detect the occurrence of recurrent stroke. In addition, we found a statistically significant finding (p < 0.001) that daily blood pressure (BP) monitoring increased from 45.5% in the initial month of the study to 76% after 3–10 months of intervention. Meanwhile, the proportion of patients with an abnormal BP rate decreased from 20.5% in the initial month of the study to 10.9% after 3–10 months of intervention. This suggests that this model helped to improve patient behavior and their ability to care for themselves. This is the first study to develop an IT-mediated, home-based healthcare model in Taiwan. This model integrates both healthcare and clinical services and is capable of enhancing the effectiveness of the care provided to patients with chronic diseases, especially those in situations where self-care is essential for disease management.