Home intravenous therapy down under

Abstract

Health service research traditionally has relied on quantitative methodologies that view the question from the researcher's perspective. Exploring the question of what it is like to receive intravenous therapy at home has required investigation into what is known about home i.v. therapy and the impact on the patient in particular. The purpose of this study was to describe and understand the recipient's lived experience of home i.v. therapy using a research approach that preserves the uniqueness of the experience from the recipient's perspective. The method involved conducting in-depth interviews with a sample of 26 recipients of home i.v. therapy throughout Tasmania, Australia. Interviews were analyzed using an interpretative process, with the participants describing a process that included the main themes of "having a life" and "the hazards of hospitalization." The main goals of the work are to heighten nurses' and other healthcare professionals' understanding and awareness of home i.v. therapy from the consumer perspective and to address the lack of patient/consumer advocacy and exploration within the evaluative literature available on this subject.