INTRODUCTION
Healthcare professionals must understand that every community has different health needs, necessitating specific education and interventions. Elderly African female patients with heart disease are a particular population that frequently experiences disparities in healthcare education and access. Cultural beliefs, limited resources, and language barriers may make it difficult for them to receive the proper care. Therefore, creating a healthcare education resource suitable for this population is essential.
HEART DISEASE AMONG ELDERLY FEMALE AFRICANS
Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally, and elderly African women are particularly vulnerable due to factors such as menopause, decreased estrogen levels, and age-related physiological changes (Nayak et al., 2020). This group is more likely than the young American male population to suffer from cardiac disease. African women, in particular, have a higher risk of developing heart disease due to cultural and societal factors such as limited access to healthy foods, sedentary lifestyles, and lack of awareness about heart health. It is crucial to address these disparities through effective healthcare education.
CHALLENGES FACED WHEN ACCESSING HEALTHCARE INFORMATION
When it comes to getting access to healthcare information, older African women frequently experience different obstacles. Due to the lack of translations or medical terminologies in many African languages and dialects, language barriers and illiteracy are significant issues. Moreover, some elderly African females may not trust Western medicine because of cultural beliefs and traditional healing techniques, which makes it challenging to inform them about the significance of controlling cardiac disease (Zegeye et al., 2021). Therefore, a healthcare education tool must be created in a way that tackles these issues and conveys knowledge in a way that is both understandable and sensitive to cultural differences.
HEALTHCARE EDUCATION TOOL FOR ELDERLY FEMALE AFRICANS
An interactive digital platform, “Heartwise Africa” will serve as the primary healthcare education tool for elderly African women with heart disease. The tool will consist of instructional films, interactive assessments, and health-related and culturally relevant content in English and other African languages (Comeau, 2023). The platform is easily accessible for older persons with mobility issues because it can be accessed through desktop computers, tablets, and cell phones. To ensure cultural sensitivity and accuracy of information, the tool will be created with input from healthcare professionals, cultural specialists, and older African females.
ADVANTAGES OF THE TOOL
Many academic publications have endorsed the use of technology, especially digital healthcare education tools. Digital education technologies are more effective than traditional approaches to improving knowledge and skills Chan and Zary (2015). Additionally, a meta-analysis conducted by Hugon et al. (2019) revealed that interventions for digital health education improve patient outcomes, such as decreased readmission rates and better self-management.
The “Heartwise Africa” platform’s usage of technology has various benefits. First, it makes it possible to spread knowledge widely, reaching older African women without access to conventional healthcare instruction. To guarantee that users receive the most accurate and recent information on heart health, the platform can be updated constantly with fresh resources and information (Lay et al., 2019). Finally, it has been demonstrated that the personalized and interactive features improve user engagement and active learning, both of which improve healthcare results.
HOW THE TOOL CONTRIBUTES TO CRITICAL THINKING
By letting users engage with the content and apply it to their everyday lives, the “Heartwise Africa” platform fosters critical thinking skills. The multilingual feature guarantees that comprehension is not impeded by language barriers, and the interactive quizzes and films offer chances for active learning. The platform also has a function that allows users to enter their own health information and get tailored advice on how to manage their particular illness. This gives people the confidence to make educated decisions and inspires them to consider their own health critically.
HOW THE TOOL CONTRIBUTES TO NURSING PRACTICE
The “Heartwise Africa” platform enhances nursing practice by offering an individualized and culturally aware method of teaching older African women who have heart disease. The platform also encourages self-management and health literacy, two important aspects of nursing care for those with long-term illnesses (Ekong et al., 2016). By enabling people to take charge of their health and make educated decisions, this tool can have a favorable effect on patient outcomes, such as better heart disease management, fewer hospital admissions, and an overall higher standard of living.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the “Heartwise Africa” healthcare education tool seeks to close the gap in healthcare inequalities experienced by older African women who have heart disease. In addition to using technology to support health literacy, critical thinking, and self-management, it tackles the particular learning difficulties that this demographic faces. There is literature to support the use of this instrument, which could improve nursing practice and, in the end, improve patient outcomes for those who are at risk.
Reference
Zegeye, B., El-Khatib, Z., Ameyaw, E. K., Seidu, A. A., Ahinkorah, B. O., Keetile, M., & Yaya, S. (2021). Breaking barriers to healthcare access: a multilevel analysis of individual-and community-level factors affecting women’s access to healthcare services in Benin. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(2), 750.
Nayak, A., Hicks, A. J., & Morris, A. A. (2020). Understanding the complexity of heart failure risk and treatment in black patients. Circulation: Heart Failure, 13(8), e007264.
Hugon, A., Roussel, N., Koleck, M., Danner, M., Miot, S., & Humbert, X. (2019). Effectiveness of digital health interventions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. NPJ Digital Medicine, 2(2019), 1-10. doi: 10.1038/s41746-019-0086-z
Comeau, K. E. N. (2023). Healthcare Provider-to-Patient Physical Activity Discussions Among Patients with Atrial Fibrillation (Doctoral dissertation, Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa).
Ekong, J., Radovich, P., & Brown, G. (2016). Educating home healthcare nurses about heart failure self-care. Home healthcare now, 34(9), 500-506.
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