Abstract
Introduction: Successful medical treatment of glaucoma requires adherence to daily eye drop medications. Health coach- ing, which has been used successfully for other chronic diseases, may be helpful for glaucoma patients. Methods: Qualitative analysis of pre-coaching questionnaire, coaching notes, and post-coaching exit interviews, for four glaucoma patients who completed a 6-month health coaching interventional study. The health coaching intervention con- sisted of 4-6 coaching sessions with a certified Health Coach via telephone. Results: Preserving independence was the most important theme identified prior to coaching. Participants varied in focus areas, focusing on either eye health, general health, or a combination. The health coaching intervention resulted in benefits for all four patients, from the development of eye drop adherence strategies to weight loss and work-life balance. Conclusion: These results support the use of holistic approaches to care for glaucoma patients, as well as further research on the use of health coaching for glaucoma patients and the development of health coaching interventions tailored to the unique needs of glaucoma patients.
Highlights
Successful medical treatment of glaucoma requires adherence to daily eye drop medications
The glaucoma patients who participated in this coaching study http://scidoc.org/IJOES.php were similar in age and race to our glaucoma population
Like how would losing my sight affect my activities of daily living? How would losing sight affect my overall being? Would I be able to drive and go when I wanted to or just do things when I wanted to do them without the assistance of someone else?. In this qualitative study of glaucoma patients who participated in health coaching, the intervention was flexible allowing partici
Summary
Successful medical treatment of glaucoma requires adherence to daily eye drop medications. Health coaching, which has been used successfully for other chronic diseases, may be helpful for glaucoma patients. The health coaching intervention resulted in benefits for all four patients, from the development of eye drop adherence strategies to weight loss and work-life balance. The most common eye pressure lowering treatments are eye drop medications [1] that require instillation at least daily. A patient’s adherence to the prescribed medication regimen is required for successful treatment of this chronic disease, but adherence is complex and often inadequate [2]. Health coaching can help in the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease [5], where daily use of chronic medications is needed and where the early disease is usually asymptomatic, similar to glaucoma. One of the techniques used by health coaches, motivational interviewing, has been shown to be feasible in ophthalmology clinics [7]
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