Why Patient Engagement is Key to Encouraging Adherence

Patient Engagement and Home Health Patients
Patient engagement means that the patient is engaged in their care by understanding their role in self-care and performing the appropriate actions to maintain or restore their health.  Engaging patients on smartphones and tablets – the devices which they already frequently use – can drive better adherence.  The patient receives timely emails or texts which serve as reminders to their own role in self-care.

Home health agencies are sometimes skeptic that the majority of their patients – the Silent Generation – are using these devices.  However, Pew Research recently released their latest generational insight into adoption and use of technology.  Interestingly, smartphone, tablet and social media use have increased significantly amongst the Silent Generation:

  • Smartphone ownership went from 30% in 2018 to 40% in 2019.
  • Tablet ownership increased from 17% in 2013 to 25% in 2018 to 33% in 2019.
  • Use of social media grew from 15% in 2012 to 23% in 2018 to 28% in 2019.
  • Use of Facebook nearly doubled from 21% in 2012 to 37% in 2019.

Encouraging Adherence
Home health providers can use Synzi’s communication platform to schedule and automatically send emails and texts to promote medication adherence, reinforce appropriate exercise and nutritional adjustments, and encourage additional behavior modifications.  Ongoing messages can:

  • Provide education and motivation for medication compliance
  • Address role of self-care before and after in-person visits and virtual visits
  • Share diet and lifestyle guidance on a regular basis

With Synzi’s dashboard, the home health agency administrator can also assess each patient’s level of interaction in the communication program.  The messaging can be adjusted if the administrator sees that the patient is not opening or taking action with each message.  And, the administrator can request that a home health nurse intervenes to check on the patient and determine if a different level or type of care is quickly needed.

Reaching the LEP Patient Population
About 25.1 million individuals in the US are considered Limited English Proficient (LEP). Limited English proficiency refers to anyone above the age of 5 who reported speaking English less than “very well,” as classified by the U.S. Census Bureau. English-only healthcare communications can be limited in their impact with home health patients who prefer a language other than English for their day-to-day communications.

With Synzi, home health providers can send translated messages to their patients with ongoing medication, dietary, exercise, and general health guidance.  Communicating the message in the language of the patient’s’ choice is critical to engagement.

Providing Patient-Centric Communications
Using the Synzi communication platform can change the patients’ approach to self-care can reduce hospitalizations and enhance the quality of life for all patient populations.  Patients can be continually engaged in order to increase their knowledge of their disease, their self-confidence in managing their health, and their understanding of what they can do to stabilize their health.

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