If the patient is hospitalized, this part might be more difficult. The patient’s home environment mostly gives clues about the contributing factors to the patient’s inability to manage their health. If possible, pay a visit to the home and gather information from family and friends to paint a clear picture of the current situation.
Family and friends can influence behavior and social activities that might contribute to the patient’s lifestyle.
This provides information about whether these habits are new due to recent changes or whether the patient has been dealing with them for a long time. Practices that have been a part of the patient’s life for a long time might need a different approach to break these habits.
To change, the patient has to know about the inadequacy of skills to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The nurse needs to know if the patient wants to change but does not have the means or is unwilling to change.
Sensory or cognitive impairment might be the reason for the patient not being receptive to treatment.
The patient has to be able to understand the teaching process and materials provided. It is also easier to participate in the care plan.
Some of these lifestyle changes can have an enormous impact on the patient’s life. Habituated activities can be challenging to break. Providing time and being open to questions supports the patient in making these changes.
The patient might not have the (financial) resources, the motivation, or the skills to change their health maintenance activities. This information allows the nurse to personalize the care plan further and focus on resolving the specific cause of the non-compliant behavior.
Adjustments can be made to the teaching material to ensure the patient can understand it.
Unhealthy lifestyle habits can be slowly replaced by healthy activities that improve the patient’s health.
The patient might misjudge the severity of the illness or be afraid of possible diagnoses. Another reason might be the patient feeling embarrassed about his or her condition.
Recent and sudden changes in life might require new coping mechanisms and problem-solving techniques.
The patient might be willing to do it but finds it to be complicated to accomplish. Use pillboxes and calendars to help keep things organized. Reeducate about indication and schedule times of medications.
Making appointments more accessible helps increase patient compliance.
For the patient to make sustainable changes, his or her environment has to be supportive.
Compliments on achievements raise motivation and reinforce that the actions taken are appropriate.
Often stress factors and other crises worsen unhealthy activities and habits. Reducing stress should reduce the need to engage in unhealthy habits.
The patient is more receptive to the material provided if he or she can understand it.
Booklets, flyers, and website addresses are useful resources that the patient can access at home.
Family members know now how to support the patient healthily and can act as accountability persons.
The situation of an environment might be different in the hospital than at home. The caregiver needs time to adapt to take care of the patient in the home environment adequately.
Ackley, B., & Ladwig, G. (2014). Nursing diagnosis handbook (10th ed., pp.412-415). Maryland Heights: Mosby Elsevier.
Gulanick, M., & Myers, J. (2014). Nursing care plans (8th ed., pp.92-94). Elsevier.