Thai families in the next normal: Rising through an age of technology and trickery

Abstract

This invited article aimed to analyze, synthesize, and summarize key substance gained from research and academic presentations at a family nursing conference on caring for patients and families with “heart” in the Next Normal era, within the Thai social context.

The “Next Normal” refers to the period following the severe COVID-19 outbreak, which forced people and families around the world to adapt to new ways of living to prevent the spread of the disease. Over time, societies have developed new tools and technologies to support these changes, improve quality of life, and ensure safety. This has led to a technology-driven, online-based society where innovation plays an important role in helping people live healthier and happier lives despite ongoing health risks.

The family nursing academic presentations covered a wide range of health situations from normal conditions to critical, acute, and chronic illnesses - including end-of-life care. The focus was on providing quality care for all family members, supporting their caregiving roles with a family-centered and compassionate approach, driven by the heart of nursing. By synthesizing data and knowledge from multiple research studies and presentations, this article presented new insights that could serve as a starting point for future research. These findings could also be applied in practical ways to improve care. The lessons learned have been summarized and written into this article. However, it was important to note that technological changes and developments in society often came with various forms of scams and fraud. Therefore, people - including nurses as health care advisors-needed to be well-informed and stay alert to these deceptive tactics.