Patients’ Understanding of Medical Technology in Palliative Home Care: A Qualitative Analysis

Healthcare reforms and reductions in the number of hospital beds are leading to an increasing amount of medical technology moving from hospitals into home care, affecting the daily lives of patients. The aim of this study was therefore to describe the ways patients understand medical technology in palliative home care. With use of a phenomenographic approach, 15 patients with medical technology were interviewed, and data were analyzed in a 7-step process. Three ways of understanding the phenomenon emerged: a masterful patient, an adjustable patient, and a restricted patient. Masterful patients took control over the medical technology and were mostly independent of assistance from personnel. Adjustable patients accepted and adapted their lives to the medical technology and were satisfied with assistance from the personnel. Restricted patients were reminded daily of the medical technology and dependent on assistance from personnel. Depending on the patients’ health conditions, the support from the personnel, and the impact of medical technology, a transfer between the different ways of understanding occurred with a simultaneous movement between independence and dependence. The patient exhibited various ways of understanding, although one way of understanding was more dominant.