Telehealth stories from NHS Lothian
These stories were created in a Pilgrim Projects/Patient Voices reflective digital storytelling workshop in 2011.
Never give up hope
Inspired by her son’s battle with his own addictions, Nancy joins the telehealth-supported COPD rehabilitation programme in order to shake off her own addiction to smoking and to recover her health
Bob
Ash, who works on the telehealth-supported COPD rehabilitation team, and Bob, one of her clients, have a shared interest in hill-walking and the outdoors. When Ash injures her knee and needs to go through physical rehab for her knee, parallel experiences turn into a sense of shared goals.
A leap of faith
Some changes in Carol’s life, like becoming a senior clinical support worker on the telehealth-supported pulmonary rehabilitation programme, have required her to make a leap of faith. Not only has her new career given her the opportunity to help service users and to see how much they can benefit from support, but their growth and recovery has been an inspiration for her.
Good health to bad health
COPD took Dusty from a fit, outward looking man to someone with limited physical horizons. The telehealth-supported pulmonary rehab programme has given him the support to improve management of his condition, but the death of his son takes him back to smoking.
Why me?
A hard-working boatbuilder, fisherman and joiner, John was fit and capable. In his fifties he is affected by Angina, Asthma, bladder problems and then COPD – something he’d never heard of. After the pills and inhalers, the telehealth-supported pulmonary rehab programme puts hope back into his life, guides him to further programmes, such as ‘Breathe Easy’ and, together with the support of his family, keeps him going.
Long distance communications
Telecommunications technologies allow Christine and her colleagues to bridge the distances between therapists and patients, and so deliver pulmonary care to COPD patients more effectively and more efficiently. Similar technologies allow her to bridge the distances between her and her family in New Zealand, but the experience illuminates other parallels.
Someone who believed in me
Irene’s COPD manifests as unexplained and unexpected attacks for which she seems unable to get an answer. The support and belief of professionals and peers within the telehealth-supported pulmonary rehab programme has allowed her to finally make progress.
Challenges
Despite a weak chest from an early age, Bob has set himself physical targets and challenges throughout his life. As his health deteriorates, he reassesses and reframes his goals, but a fall undoes many years of hard work. It is then that the support and help of the Pulmonary Rehab team come to the fore.