RBC has focused on helping people realize their health goals. As it turns out, there has been considerable work done to understand the best way to achieve a personal goal, whether health-related or otherwise. There has been a lot written about how to accomplish a goal.[1] Standing back, the recommended steps are basically the following:

1. Describe your goal in writing.
2. Set your end date.
3. Identify what you need to do daily in order to achieve your goal by the target end date. (You MUST be realistic about what YOU can do.)
4. Log your daily progress.
5. Change your daily actions as necessary to stay on track.

Achieving a health goal involves following the general steps described above where the objective is to either maintain or improve ones’ health. A health plan is created when there are concrete answers to steps one through three.

Health goal success can then be predicted by the patients’ adherence to their plans (tracking daily/weekly progress towards the health goal). Nothing inspires new successes like past ones. For example, watching weight drop, watching blood pressure improve, etc. inspires staying the course.

This feedback is essential. Imagine starting out on a road trip and not tracking your progress on a map.

Disclaimer: To be clear, Red Boat Care (RBC) cannot offer any medical advice. Users of our product must confer with licensed heath care professionals to identify specific medical treatments.

Looking at the example of heart disease. Not surprisingly, there are some generally recognized life style changes considered to lower the risk of heart disease.[2][3]

“Lifestyle Changes

• Stop smoking
• Choose good nutrition
• High blood cholesterol
• Lower high blood pressure
• Be physically active every day
• Aim for a healthy weight
• Manage diabetes
• Reduce stress
• Limit alcohol“

Working with a physician, you can discover what YOU can do to improve your “risk factors”.

Adopting lifestyle changes can make a difference. Consider the example of daily physical activity offered by the World Heart Association:

Motivational Interviewing
Simply stated (very simply) people trained in MI work with subjects to identify their desired health goals, realistic timeframes to achieve the goals, realistic daily/weekly steps and how to track their progress.

The appeal of MI to Red Boat Care is its patient-centered focus. Instead of relying strictly on prescriptive medical advice, MI works with patients to figure out how their preferences can be leveraged in their own health plans. This may improve outcomes, especially in cases where the patient has some ambivalence about their goals or treatment.[7]

Tracking weight may be recommended for people who have suffered heart failure.[8] [9]

• Seeing day to day progress.
• Knowing the right medications were taken.
• Knowing the right activities were performed.
• Knowing what helps a care recipient take a medication or perform a necessary activity.
• Having all medical and contact information is available any place, any time.
• Having enough help to give someone necessary care.

A long journey can require a crew.

• Healthcare of a family member can be a long journey.
• The health of the caregiver and the person receiving care can be dependent on their obtaining help.
• Getting that help requires assembling an enabled team.

What a caregiver needs to know:

There are basic questions that must be answered to take care of someone:

• What is needed? - The medications, activities and appointments.
• Who needs to do it? – Which caregiver is scheduled for this time of day.
• Why is it needed? – What is the reason for the medical activity?
• What happened? – Notes and task complete.

The needs of a caregiving team:

The care giving team has communication and coordination needs:

• Need to cover the daily care needs: From rides to appointments to administering medications.
• Need to cover the different care times: Different times of day.

In the past, home caregivers have been advised to keep three-ring binders or use disparate office software tools to manage the home care of a loved one. Now there is a better way.

Red Boat Care offers software for caregivers for the same reasons banks offer electronic banking.

• Recording information: Electronic entry instead of writing on paper.
• Sharing information: Electronic transport instead of physical (allowing secure access any place, at anytime, on any device).
• Finding information: Electronic search instead of physical (physical search is prohibitively slow).
• Securing information: Electronic and physical security instead of just physical.

[1] An easier way to set and achieve health goals (https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/an-easier-way-to-set-and-achieve-health-goals)

[2] Lifestyle Changes for Heart Attack Prevention http://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/heart-attack/life-after-a-heart-attack/lifestyle-changes-for-heart-attack-prevention

[3] KNOW THE FACTS ABOUT Heart Disease (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/docs/ConsumerEd_HeartDisease.pdf

[4] Heart Disease Risk Factors (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/risk_factors.htm

[5] Why Should I Be Physically Active? American Heart Association https://www.heart.org/-/media/data-import/downloadables/pe-abh-why-should-i-be-physically-active-ucm_300469.pdf

[6] Motivational Interviewing - Third Edition -Helping People Change - William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick (2012)

[7] Shared Decision Making and Motivational Interviewing: Achieving Patient-Centered Care Across the Spectrum of Health Care Problems https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4018376/

[8] Heart Failure: Monitoring Your Weight & Fluid Intake https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17243-heart-failure-monitoring-your-weight--fluid-intake

[9] Heart Failure: Tracking Your Weight https://www.fairview.org/sitecore/content/Fairview/Home/Patient-Education/Articles/English/h/e/a/r/t/Heart_Failure_Tracking_Your_Weight_82087

[10] Adherence to Long-Term Therapies - Evidence for action (World Health Organization 2003) https://www.who.int/chp/knowledge/publications/adherence_full_report.pdf?ua=1

[11] “The word “adherence” is preferred by many health care providers, because “compliance” suggests that the patient is passively following the doctor’s orders and that the treatment plan is not based on a therapeutic alliance or contract established between the patient and the physician”, Osterberg NEJM 2005