Exploring Patient and Caregiver Perceptions of Primary Healthcare Sector Home Care for Simple Acute Wounds.

BACKGROUND: To control healthcare expenditure, patients with simple, acute, low-risk wounds are encouraged to perform self-wound care at home. However, patient perception of this care is not known. OBJECTIVE: To explore patient and caregiver perceptions of home wound care for patients with simple acute wounds in the primary healthcare sector in Singapore. METHODS: This study used the constructivist grounded theory approach. Nine participants from 2 polyclinics were interviewed. In vivo codes were extracted, and the constant comparative technique was applied throughout the analytical process. RESULTS: Fear, lack of knowledge, and the difficulty in performing care resulted in many patients avoiding self-wound care. Age, educational level, and cost did not have much impact. Participants with some first aid knowledge and those who appreciated the flexibility of self-wound care were more likely to embrace this concept. Participants also suggested that telecommunications and mobile nurses could assist in this concept. CONCLUSIONS: Generally, patients are willing to accept this self-wound care concept. To ensure successful implementation, nurses should encourage eligible patients to attend educational programs to prepare them to perform wound care at home.