A study of a rural community's readiness for telehealth

Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare - Tập 9 Số 5 - Trang 259-263 - 2003
Penny Jennett1, Andora Jackson1, Theresa Healy2, Kendall Ho3, Arminée Kazanjian4, Robert Woollard5, Susan Haydt6, Joanna Bates5
1Health Telematics Unit, University of Calgary, Canada
2School of Environmental Planning, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
3Continuing Medical Education, University of British Columbia, Canada
4Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia, Canada
5Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Canada
6Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, Canada

Tóm tắt

A qualitative approach was used to explore the readiness of a rural community for the implementation of telehealth services. There were four domains of interest: patient, practitioner, public and organization. Sixteen semistructured telephone interviews (three to five in each domain) were carried out with key informants and recorded on audio-tape. Two community awareness sessions were held, which were followed by five audio-taped focus groups (with five to eight people in each) in the practitioner, patient and public domains. In addition, two in-depth interviews were conducted with community physicians. Analysis of the data suggested that there were four types of community readiness: core, engagement, structural and non-readiness. The level of readiness varied across domains. There were six main themes: core readiness; structural readiness; projection of benefits; assessment of risk; awareness and education; and intra-group and inter-group dynamics. The results of the study can be used to investigate the readiness of rural and remote communities for telehealth, which should improve the chance of successful implementation.

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Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare

Tập 9 Số 5

259-263

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