Telehomecare at
TC CCAC:
improving health,
preventing emergencies
Ninety-year-old Jenny is independent and lives on her
own, but when she began feeling too tired to go on her
regular walks and was out of breath just going from one
room to the next, she had help just a phone call away.
Jenny, who has chronic heart failure and a pacemaker,
was offered a place in the Telehomecare program
several months ago. She had some initial hesitation
about using the equipment brought into her home. But
with some guidance, she has become adept at checking
her blood pressure, weight, heart rate and pulse. Next,
using a touch-screen tablet, she answers a few simple
questions about how she’s feeling that day. Jenny’s
results go automatically to her Telehomecare nurse,
Linda. An alert draws Linda’s attention to anything
outside the normal range for Jenny.
One day, Linda noticed Jenny’s heart rate was lower
than her normal range, but her blood pressure was
unchanged. Several days later, Jenny admitted to
feeling tired, but not too bad. By the second week,
Linda says, “I could hear how short of breath Jenny
was on the phone.” She advised Jenny to go see her
family doctor. He changed the dose of one of her
medications, but Jenny felt no better.
Linda contacted Jenny’s cardiologist, who advised her to
call the pacemaker clinic. Initially, the clinic nurse was
not concerned. Then Jenny remembered a symptom
that Linda had emphasized was important to tell them:
“I get out of breath just walking to the next room.”
Soon the clinic cardiologist was with Jenny, and decided
to increase her pacemaker rate.
The effect was almost immediate. “I felt like
someone had lifted something off me,” Jenny reports.
“[Telehomecare] is a very good thing and really
wonderful for me.” Meanwhile, Linda called Jenny as
soon as she arrived at work on Monday morning. She
was relieved to hear Jenny sounding like herself. “She
said it was like day and night.” Linda reports.
Linda finds her work with Telehomecare rewarding
and enjoys the rapport with her clients. She has a
scheduled, one-hour weekly coaching session
with each client. With Jenny, their sessions include
discussing the symptoms of heart failure, and how
Jenny can self-manage her diet, exercise and other
factors for optimal health. Toronto Central CCAC is one
of the first sites in Ontario to offer Telehomecare,
and the program is set to expand gradually across the
province. For Jenny, it has been life changing.
“I didn’t even have a computer in my home
before. But it’s so simple. It takes less
than five minutes each day!”
Darcy, Brooklyn’s mom
“I felt good that I was able to help her.
I don’t know how she would have been
with another day of gasping. She probably
would have gone to Emergency on the
weekend.”
– Linda, Jenny’s Telehomecare nurse