Many patients suffer from anxiety after major surgery. The transition phase from hospital to home is very crucial, especially in the event of a transplant.
Peer Mentoring To Reduce Post-Op Anxiety During Care Transitions
Anxiety can be reduced to some extent by using mentoring programs. A new study has shown that peer mentoring can lessen the anxiety in this phase by some margin.
As part of the study, nearly 100 patients who had undergone surgery were monitored for about a month. Few patients were put into the peer mentoring program, where former patients provided valuable guidance to current patients for the entire duration. The other group consisted of patients in usual care.
The interesting outcome of this program was that the patients who were in the peer mentoring program reported less anxiety over the 30 day period. This shows that former patients can be a valuable resource to the health system as they can guide new patients about the recovery process. In this way, identifying any complications becomes an easy task, and treatment can be provided at an early stage.
Health experts feel that this is a good option for both the patients and the doctors in the long run. Apart from helping the patients cope with anxiety and other issues after the surgery, it also reduces the burden on the hospital system to a large extent.
When former patients closely monitor the recovery process of current patients, it lessens the load on nurses and doctors in many cases. In this manner, the health system can cater to other patients.
The health system should consider implementing such programs for various categories of patients in the long run. This will prove beneficial even for the patient as they get first-hand information about the recovery process from former patients who have gone through the process.
In this way, current patients feel more confident about their recovery. Not only that, it is much easier to reach out to a mentor than to a health care professional in case of any doubt during the recovery process.
The former patients can even form a group and try to help others who are currently in the process of recovery after major surgery. In this way, the support group can function independently and help many people who need guidance regarding leading a normal life after surgery.
Voluntary organizations can be part of such peer mentor programs and help patients who do not have easy access to such guidance. In this way, the experience of former patients will be put to good use.
The health system should also make it a point to document the recovery process of a few patients in the long run. In this way, this can serve as a valuable resource for future patients who undergo similar surgeries.
Even though patients can get information about the recovery process online, it is always better to obtain first-hand information from a peer mentor. When a former patient provides guidance, it appears more reliable for the person currently undergoing the recovery process.
The doctors and nurses are overburdened with lots of patients on a regular basis. Due to these constraints, they may not be able to spend too much time with patients after the surgery. At this stage, when the patients get the right guidance from former patients, their confidence will increase to some extent.
In this manner, they will feel confident about leading a normal life when they see others who have already recovered from a similar illness. There is a lot of scope for conducting such peer mentor programs across the country for patients recovering from a severe illness.
