Brendon is an adult with cystic fibrosis (CF) who was brought up in regional Western Australia (WA) and has lived and worked in several regional locations. He is a family man, and as such has had a lot of commitments in his local community. When the chance of using Telehealth was offered he was very keen.
Could you tell our readers a little bit about Telehealth?
Telehealth for me was a blessing in disguise. The metro hospital would organise the time and date and book the room. At district and regional hospitals, they have certain rooms set up for Telehealth Conferences. It was great as you would get a phone call from the Telehealth coordinator telling you there was a Telehealth appointment and confirming the date and time, and you can schedule your life around this and simply rock up.
Telehealth was a chance to be able to engage with specialists from the metro hospitals and be able to stay on track with the appropriate care plan. It was a way to be able to chat with everyone; the whole team that is looking after you. They even post scripts to local pharmacy which saves so much time, money and stress on patients and their families.
How did you manage to get onto this program?
I was contacted by the team at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Cystic Fibrosis WA to see if I would be interested in pursuing the opportunity.
Did Telehealth make things easier for you?
Telehealth was more flexible for me to be able to manage my life, whether it be work commitments, studies, volunteer role (as a volunteer ambulance officer with St John Ambulance) and also my family, as we have two children with special needs. It saved me that stress of having to take time off and be able to schedule things for the kids; I can simply go off and do Telehealth at the local hospital in my lunch hour.
Would you recommend Telehealth for other regional adults?
Yes. Having that option there for you is something I would totally recommend to remote or regional patients; both children and adults.
I also understand that you were lucky enough to go on a drug trial, was this difficult to manage whilst living regionally?
Drug trials are great, but living in a regional town or city is a real strain, as the commitment involves you being available 100% of the trial, and that consists of going to Perth for some of the required treatment. With a full-on life, it can be a bit of a challenge but with preparation and time management it can be done.
Article from RED Magazine, Edition 4, 2017.