My Health Matters – A tool to empower older people to keep well and self manage medical appointments

Description

Lack of access to information is a barrier to ‘ageing well’. The Living Well at Home groups, as part of ICPOP, aim to provide access to clear and concise information that impact on older persons’ lives. In 2024, the group published a Directory of Supports and Services to provide older people in the midlands with access to a wide range of services, which enable them to age well. This ‘Directory’ for older people won the Age Friendly Communication Award last year.
As a follow on and after additional consultation with older people, the need for support to manage medical appointments emerged. Older people stated that medical appointments are time-limited and do not enable them to answer their questions. The group then co-designed the ‘My Health Matters’ tool, which comprises of:
– ‘A schedule of appointments and important dates’, which enables the older person to list their forthcoming appointments
– ‘My Appointment’ enables the older person to complete details of the specific medical appointment, including the name of the healthcare professional and the purpose of the appointment. This section of the tool also empowers the person to list questions in terms of key areas – Medication, Mobility, Wellbeing and Meals. There is also capacity for the person to reflect on, and document, ‘what really matters’ to them in advance of their appointment. The person can document their own notes from the appointment, next steps, follow on appointments and most importantly who to contact if they have further questions after their appointment. There is capacity to capture 20 appointments within the tool.
– ‘My Goals/monitoring my progress’ enables the person to document their specific goals/actions and progress with a target date. Older people who consulted on this tool specifically asked for a goal tracker.
– My notes – are left blank, enabling the person to record their own personal information or key points that are important to them.
– The last page cites contact details for local resources such as ALONE coordinators, Healthy Age Friendly Homes, Age Action, Public health nursing, Local link, Dementia advisor, Social Prescribers and links to the online version of the Directory.
– There are pockets inside the covers of the folder which can be used to store key documents such as ‘My Medicines List’ or relevant medical reports or specific information given at medical appointments.
As a follow on from this, the Living Well at Home Groups have developed specific information leaflets to complement the tool. The information leaflets are as follows:
– Minding my Memory
– Minding my Meals
– Minding my Medication
– Minding my Mobility.
These information leaflets assist healthcare professionals to provide consistent evidence based information to older people.
In summary, the ‘My Health Matters’ tool, in tandem with the above information leaflets, empower older people to be informed and feel confident to communicate well with healthcare professionals and seek information that matters to them. Together these resources will enable older people to better manage their healthcare journey.

Aim of Initiative

The aim of this project is to empower older people to take control of their own health. Specifically, older people identified that they are not able to access information online. the recent launch of the HSE app is promoted with older people; however, many older people find this technology difficult. This tool aims to bridge the gap between healthcare professionals and older people in terms of what matters to older people when they attend medical appointments. Older people state they feel that time is limited when they attend medical appointments and they don’t have confidence to ask questions or state what matters to them. This tool was co-designed to bridge this gap and provide older people with the knowledge and capacity to be prepared when attending appointments and empower them to ask their questions and cite their real concerns.

Who is it aimed at

The initiative is aimed at older people to support them when they attend healthcare services. Furthermore it is an education tool for healthcare providers to take time and listen to older people, and what matters to them, when they attend appointments.
The Information Leaflets are educational for older people and also healthcare professionals. Local signposting to resources are invaluable to both older people and healthcare professionals.

3 Steps critical to success

1. Collaboration with older people to identify the need to co-design the tool
2. Collaboration from key stakeholders (HSE, other voluntary and community groups) and roll out to services and older people
3. An awareness programme to highlight the benefit of this tool that bridges the information and communication gap between older people and healthcare professionals

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. ‘- Funding to scale the tool beyond community specialist teams in the midlands’
2. ‘- Evidence changes regularly and the Information Leaflets will need regular review’
3. ‘- Empowering older people to take control of their healthcare and ask key questions at medical appointments is a culture change. It will take time for healthcare professionals to adapt.’

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. ‘- Tool that bridges the information and communication gap between healthcare professionals and older people who will be more informed and confident when attending medical appointments. Older people will be more informed of local resources to support them. The Information Leaflets will educate older people in terms of memory, mobility, meals and medications.’
2. Older people will actively use the tool to manage their healthcare appointments and will feel empowered to ask questions and articulate what really matters to them at their appointments
3. The tool will change the culture over time whereby older people come to appointments prepared to ask key questions and have these key questions answered by healthcare professionals.