Patient and provider perspectives on home telecare: Preliminary results from a randomized controlled trial

• Published in: Journal of telemedicine and telecare Vol. 11; no. 1_suppl; pp. 95 - 97
• Main Authors: Mair, F S, Goldstein, P, May, C, Angus, R, Shiels, C, Hibbert, D, O'connor, J, Boland, A, Roberts, C, Haycox, A, Capewell, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2005; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Aged; Attitude of Health Personnel; Attitude to Health; Female; Home Care Services; Humans; Male; Nurses - psychology; Patient Satisfaction; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - psychology; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - therapy; Telemedicine - instrumentation; Telemedicine - methods; Telephone
• ISSN: 1357-633X; 1758-1109
• DOI: 10.1258/1357633054461976

A randomized controlled trial of home telecare for the management of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been undertaken in the north-west of England. A videophone was used that communicates via the ordinary telephone network. The intervention period for each participant was two weeks. Participants in the telecare arm of the trial were asked to complete logbooks to record their experiences of each telecare encounter. A simple, self-completed, 10–item questionnaire was used that consisted of a Likert scale, ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree). Fourteen nurses completed 150 logbooks and 22 patients completed 145 logbooks. These results demonstrate significant differences in perception between patients and their health-care providers with regard to telecare encounters across all the domains addressed. Participating patients consistently demonstrated more positive views of the telecare encounters than their health-care providers.