Problems arising when a system of automated weight monitoring is introduced into the home as part of the care for patients with chronic heart failure

Abstract

Patients with a history of chronic heart failure participated in a study to evaluate a home telemedicine system which monitored their weight daily. Within three weeks of beginning the study, interviews were conducted with patients (n = 5), their partners (n = 4) and their heart failure nurses (n = 3). A thematic analysis was carried out in order to probe their experiences of the illness and their perception of how telemedicine might affect those experiences. When asked, the participants and their partners did not consider that the electronic monitoring system would be much use to them. Nurses also had a number of misconceptions about the telemedicine service. The results demonstrated that patients needed better education, both in the management of their condition and in the use of the telemedicine equipment and the service provided by the call centre, before the telemedicine system could fulfil its potential.