부산대학교 도서관

Optimizing care at home, or home health care (HHC), is necessary as the population of care-dependent older people receiving care at home steadily increases. The COVID-19 pandemic tested Swedish primary care professionals as they provided HHC for a population of very frail older homebound people, but a better understanding of what healthcare workers did to manage the crisis may be useful for the further development of HHC. In this study, we aimed to understand how HHC physicians solved the problems of providing home healthcare during the pandemic to learn lessons on how to improve future HHC. This is a qualitative study of individual interviews with 11 primary care physicians working in HHC (8 women) from 7 primary care practices in Region Stockholm, Sweden. Interviews were conducted between 1 December 2020, and 11 March 2021. The data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. We generated an overarching theme in our analysis: Physicians focus on core tasks and professional values in response to crisis. This theme incorporated three underlying subthemes describing this response: physicians prioritize and resolve ethically challenging situations in new ways, cultivate the patient perspective, and build on existing teams. This study indicates that a healthcare system that gives HHC physicians agency to focus on core tasks and professional values could promote person-centered care. Optimizing care at home, or home health care (HHC), is necessary as the population of care-dependent older people receiving care at home steadily increases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, HHC physicians in Stockholm were able work person-centred and focus on clinically relevant tasks. A healthcare system that allows HHC physicians to focus on core tasks and professional values can promote person-centered care. Strategies to promote quality HHC include supporting physician autonomy, building on existing teams, and promoting collaboration between primary care providers and other caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]