Antonio

Name

Antonio

Age

Country

Portugal

Area

urban

Life course

working age adult

Need

Complex needs

Connectivity

broadband, smart phone

Diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure, António has also become paralysed waist-down due to a recent car crash and needs a wheelchair to move around. He lives in a modern apartment in Porto, equipped with smart home technologies. He is a trained electrician but his workplace, which he was required to visit personally, is not wheelchair accessible. For this reason, he is now on long-term medical leave. He has many friends and a caring girlfriend but no family nearby to support him (his family members live 300 km away).

Internet usage

Mobile device skills

Affinity to new tech

Digital Health Literacy

Assistance (ICT use)

What's important to Antonio

– Cutting-edge technology (smart home).
– His job and travelling for work purposes.
– Social weekends; personal hygiene; smart appearance.
– High-quality alcohol and cigars.

Health concerns

– Disabled: waist-down paralysis.
– Slightly overweight due to lack of exercise.
– Diabetes and hypertension.
– High risk of falls.
– Leg ulcers.
– Tobacco & alcohol consumption.

Daily living

– Cannot dress or bathe by himself; sleeps badly.
– Weekends only at home – wheelchair limits travel options.
– Mostly watching TV or on Facebook and Instagram.
– His girlfriend does the grocery shopping; he makes dinner before she arrives from work.

Health tests

– Routine tests: blood cell count, lipid profile, glucose, kidney and liver function, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).
– Regular blood pressure and glucose tests.
– Electrocardiogram (ECG).
– Smoking status tests, depression screening, weight checks.

Events, issues & personal concerns

– Has mood swings; does not trust health / social care systems.
– Unable to return to his job or find appropriate work.
– Afraid his girlfriend would leave him.
– Worried about falling out of his wheelchair.

Treatment: medications, therapies, etc.

– 5 pills: diabetes (1), high blood pressure (1), sleeping well (1), pain killers (2),
– Appointments with psychologist for depression.
– Physiotherapy at home 3 times a week.

Own resources & assets / support

– Living in a barrier-free building with some smart home technologies; wheelchair-friendly apartment.
– Living together with his girlfriend who supports him.
– Visits from friends on weekends and family 1x / month.
– Good sense of humour; friendly, polite; engaged with own care.

Care professional concerns

– Diabetes and hypertension – often uncontrolled.
– Signs of depression.
– Alcohol and tobacco consumption increased a lot in the past year.

Needs

– António is having difficulties finding a job that is appropriate to his abilities and limitations.
– António rejects social support and does not want someone other than his girlfriend to take care of him, but his girlfriend is having difficulties taking care of him alone.
– His healthcare management is sometimes difficult, particularly when his hypertension and/or diabetes are uncontrolled.
– Being in a wheelchair has limited his activities: he feels socially isolated since he used to spend almost all his weekends out of Porto with his girlfriend but after the accident they spend weekends at home as it is difficult to find places to go with a wheelchair; António also only has his physiotherapy sessions for physical activity, making him slightly overweight

Developed by

Elísio Costa, Porto4Ageing