Procolo

Name

Procolo

Age

Country

Italy

Area

suburban

Life course

retired person

Need

Complex needs

Connectivity

broadband

Procolo is a retired doctor but still runs his own cardiology clinic. Despite his multiple chronic conditions and inability to drive a car, he insists on going to the office and working everyday to feel alive and not useless. Procolo has several health concerns, has experienced multiple health-related episodes, and had trouble with multiple prescriptions making him trust care professionals less. He is also very scared of hospitalisations and will avoid them if he can.

Internet usage

Mobile device skills

Affinity to new tech

Digital Health Literacy

Assistance (ICT use)

What's important to Procolo

– His job: working to “feel alive”.
– His computer is very important to him: he pays his bills online, regularly checks his emails, and generally prefers online shopping.
– Contact to his children, church every week and researching his family’s genealogic tree, stamp collection.

Health concerns

– Severely anxious about hospitalisations: forgets to eat and becomes very preoccupied about the particular health concern involved (monomania).
– Serious sight and balance problems.
– Bladder epithelial cancer.
– Prostate enlargement (benign prostate hyperplasia).
– Hypertension.
– Diabetes.
– Injured knee with joint pain (knee arthrosis).

Daily living

– Daily transfer from home to office only possible via taxi.
– House attendance is needed and lacking; he and his wife are unable to do the housework and for – Procolo cleaning himself is becoming more frustrating.
– Groceries are a problem: only 1 shop in the area and must be visited in person.

Health tests

– Bladder exams every 6 months.
– Annual visits to the ophthalmologist after having his cataracts removed and artificial lenses installed on both eyes.
– Blood tests every 3 months to control his metabolic alterations and kidney function.

Events, issues & personal concerns

– Once had a Multiple Drug Resistance (MDR) infection (in bed for 30 days).
– Dehydration and kidney failure last summer – his son attended to him to avoid hospitalisation.
– Feels life is worthless without his work.
– Nobody to talk to when his wife is away (2x a year).

Treatment: medications, therapies, etc.

– Pills for: blood pressure, cholesterol, prostate, diabetes and asthma.
– Occasional pain killers for joint pains.
– Antibiotics for frequent bladder infections.
– Asthma inhaler.
– Diet to avoid high blood sugar (hyperglycaemia).

Own resources & assets / support

– Owns the house.
– Daughter (lawyer) and son (doctor) available for counsel.
– A helper comes to clean the house and a taxi driver helps him in and out of the building.
– His son or grandsons help him buy things online (amazon).

Care professional concerns

– His relationship with care professionals varies: sometimes he trusts them and other times he questions them.
– Trust is sometimes an issue.
– Poor or no trust on his family doctor. He trusts specialists; more so when they are from a different region.

Needs

– Procolo’s diet is an issue. He eats in a disorganised way, based on self-made diets that make him lose muscle. He requires better personalised diets combined with a fresh grocery delivery service to help him and his wife shift towards a healthy diet.
– Procolo’s exercise routine is poor and his muscle wasting is making his balance worse. He needs personalised prescriptions and monitoring of physical activity.
– Travelling to places that are pleasant and safe would help him to connect more with others and stop thinking only of his conditions.

Developed by

Guido Iaccarino, University of Salerno