At any corner in the world, hospital is the one particular place that’s always going to be crowded. With increase in pollution and more people getting affected by diseases because of that, greater number of patients tend to require the Intensive Care Unit at hospital or as we know it, ICU.
But the hindrance that comes in the path of using ICU for a long time for a single patient is the expense behind it. Hence, comes the idea of low-cost ICU or ICU at home where the patient is taken care of as much as is done is hospitals.
PROS OF USING LOW-COST ICU
- THE ENVIRONMENT OF HOME
When a patient is happy and relaxed, it helps him recover faster. The familiar environment of home soothes the patient psychologically and makes him feel a lot calmer than the anxious ambience of the hospital. This aids the healing process and makes recovery easier.
- STAYING AMONGST FAMILY AND FRIENDS
When a patient feels even a bit better, he would always want to be with his close ones and see them a lot more than hospital administration and environment would permit. Bringing the ICU at homes solves this problem where the patient can be with his loved ones as much as he needs to.
- ACCESS TO PERSONAL BELONGINGS
Staying at home is staying amongst and close to things that the patient emotionally connects to. He can use his personal things whenever he likes, be it his favourite book or the music album that he likes.
- MAKES IT EASIER FOR THE FAMILY
Being able to see their loved one sick make everything harder for the family. But to able to see the patient constantly and check up on him relieves them quiet a bit. It also saves them the trouble of travelling to the hospital every now and then just to pay a visit for not more than 10 minutes.
- COST EFFECTIVE
Needless to say, an ICU at home costs much less than the ICU at hospital. Hence, when patients are on the route of recovery but still need the critical care that is provided in ICU, it’s best to opt for low-cost ICU at home.
- MORE FREE BEDS AT HOSPITAL
Home ICU not just relieves family members and reduces cost, it also leaves more free beds at the ICU in hospital which patients with more critical condition might need and thus none of the patients are deprived of treatment.
- REDUCED RISK OF SECONDARY INFECTION
The last thing that a patient might want on the path of recovering from a disease is being infected by any other disease during his stay at the hospital. Bringing the ICU at home reduces this risk of being infected by a secondary infection to a minimum.
- HOME CARE WITH EXPERT CARE
A stay at home also ensures being looked after and taken care of by the family members. On the top of that, care from professionally trained, competent and experienced staff is meant to give the patient the best service and speed his recovery process.
- STRUCTURED COMMUNICATION
A well-maintained communication between the family, the staff taking care of the patient and the doctor makes everything smooth. This communication is aided by advanced technology that helps the doctor to track the patient’s recovery and documenting it for further use.
- FASTER REHABITILATION OF THE PATIENT
Longer the stay at the hospital ICU, harder is the rehabilitative treatment. Going back to home, a soothing environment with lesser unwanted sound without opting out of intensive care makes the transition into normalcy smooth and helps with the faster rehabilitation of the patient.
CONS OF LOW-COST ICU
- MIGHT PUT FAMILY AT RISK
If the patient is brought home with the ICU earlier than required, it might put the family members, that is, kids or people with lesser immunity at risk. If proper precaution is not taken in case of hygiene, this problem prevails.
- WORKING FAMILY MEMBERS
Home ICU comes with the idea of equal participation of the family members in the process of recovery. If all the members of the family are out working, then it beats half the purpose of bringing the ICU home as they cannot constantly contribute to the healing process or stay close to the patient.
- DEARTH OF SPACE AT HOME
The problem with home ICUs, specially in case of cities, is that in cities too many people are crammed into a small space that they call home. A serious patient at home will need a whole room and even bathroom to himself along with enough space to set up the ICU equipment.
- UNRESTRICTED VISIT MIGHT NOT ALWAYS BE CONVENIENT
As much as the patient might crave the company of his loved ones, with unrestricted visitation, there always remains a chance of too much interference from the family members which might hinder the patient’s relaxation and thus delay recovery.
- TECHNOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES
Technological advancement has made our life easier. But with technology, comes its chances of acting out. Any sort of technological problem in case of home ICU will lead to a grave problem for the patient at home where there won’t be any technician at hand.
- LACK OF COMMUNICATIVE STAFF
Getting the right people who are confident and communicative enough to deliver the care is an essential part of bringing the ICU home. There is a serious lack in the number of staffs who are confident enough to hold the rein even at home and not let the patient’s lifestyle get wayward.
- SCEPTICISM OF PEOPLE ABOUT THIS PROCESS
A challenging part of implementing home ICU is making people understand that the same care that is delivered in the hospital can be delivered at home. The patient gets the same one-to-one care in a home ICU that he gets in the hospital ICU.
It is a tough job changing the mindset of people who consider hospital treatment to be the benchmark and convincing them otherwise. Still, we can hope to make people understand so that it becomes convenient for every patient and no hospital bed is blocked unnecessarily.
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