A phone call from the heart

Through two structured calls, clients are advised about their medication intake, exercise,treatments, and outpatient follow-up.

For most patients, arriving home from the hospital triggers anxiety and even stress. The act of managing one’s wellbeing after hospitalisation has never been popular among people who are recuperating from illness. This could be due to the lack of knowledge, skill or confidence to do so.

We can’t blame them; illness has robbed men and women from having a sense of control with their own lives. Regardless, the worry has to stop. The Philippine Heart Center, a healthcare institution specializing in the management of cardiovascular diseases, has introduced PHC TeleCARE- a service that will bring the sense of control back to the lives of patients simply through two phone calls.

“Your effort to call me made me feel guided and secured, this is very reassuring!” commended by one of PHC’s patients who received a call from the TeleCARE service after being discharged. It is through telephone follow-up service that they acquire the confidence to manage their own recovery and wellness at home. But how will a simple phone call bring about meaningful changes? The answer is through health education.

Through two structured calls, clients receive reinforcement health education about their medication intake, exercise, treatments, hygiene, outpatient follow-up visit schedule, dietary recommendations,and spirituality upon arriving home. It is imperative to do so because these clients, despite receiving health education through their discharge instructions prior to leaving the hospital, could have been distracted due to things happening simultaneously at this time: processing necessary documents, paying bills and transportation coordination are just some examples.

This could make the health education rendered at this phase unclear. The follow-up calls support this transition at home, which is where application of these teachings should happen. They are also given the chance to talk about their health concerns and ask relevant questions about their recovery. These are all part of the general objectiveto uphold the promotive and rehabilitative health practices, especially among clients diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases.

The PHC TeleCARE now services all charity discharged patients of the Philippine Heart Center. With the evolving nature of this program, discharged patients may not only receive health teachings in the future but possibly more!