BACKGROUND In Norway, elder care is primarily a municipal responsibility. Municipal health services strive to offer the 'lowest level of effective care,' and home healthcare services are defined as the lowest level of care in Norway. Municipalities determine the type(s) of service and the amount of care applicants require. The services granted are outlined in an individual decision letter, whic...

BACKGROUND Home healthcare is one of the fastest growing sectors in the United States. Percutaneous injuries from sharp medical devices (sharps) are a source of bloodborne pathogen infections among home healthcare workers and community members. Sharps use and disposal practices in the home are highly variable and there is no comprehensive analysis of the system of sharps procurement, use and di...

The aim of this study was to explore the ethical challenges in home mechanical ventilation based on a secondary analysis of qualitative empirical data. The data included perceptions of healthcare professionals in hospitals and community health services and family members of children and adults using home mechanical ventilation. The findings show that a number of ethical challenges, or dilemmas,...

Recent advances in ubiquitous computing have evoked the prospect of real-time monitoring of people’s health in context-aware homes. Home is the most private place for people and health information is of highly intimate nature. Therefore, users-at-home must have means to benefit from home healthcare and preserve privacy as well. However, most smart home healthcare systems currently lack support ...

Advances in technology and the increased use of home medical devices, will revolutionise the way public healthcare is administered. Homes and their associated networks in conjunction with such devices will take over many mundane healthcare tasks and manage new and enriched lifestyle choices that affect our overall quality of life. Through the combination of wireless and fixed networking infrast...

Major depression is disproportionately common among elderly adults receiving home healthcare and is characterized by greater medical illness, functional impairment, and pain. Depression is persistent in this population and is associated with numerous poor outcomes such as increased risk of hospitalization, injury-producing falls, and higher health care costs. Despite the need for mental health ...

Home healthcare nurses often work in isolation and rarely have the opportunity to meet or congregate in one location. As a result, nurse leaders must possess unique leadership skills to supervise and manage a dispersed employee base from a distance. The nature of this dispersed workforce creates an additional challenge in the ability to identify future leaders, facilitate leadership capacity, a...

This study explores the characteristics of Medicare-only beneficiaries and Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibles in comparison, assess what factors determine the dual eligibility status, and examine the association between dual eligibility status and home healthcare service use. Using retrospective observational study of the U.S. 1996-2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we find that dual eligible...

The ageing of the population, the growth of chronic diseases, and the explosion of healthcare costs jeopardise the sustainability of healthcare systems in many European countries. This opens opportunities for innovative prevention and healthcare services supported by information and communication technologies (ICT). The natural focus for providing such services is the home. However, the ehealth...