Dive Brief:
- New research published in Telemedicine and e-Health has concluded that telemedical chronic disease self-management programs can improve care access to isolated areas.
- The study delivered 19 chronic disease self-management programs via telehealth technology to 13 rural communities; the researchers then did a focus group with 44 people who'd participated in the programs.
- When researchers analyzed the results, statistically significant improvements from baseline to four-month follow-up were found for self-efficacy, exercise behavior, cognitive symptom management, communication with physicians, psychological well-being, energy, health distress and self-related health, according to FierceHealthIT.
Dive Insight:
It's remarkable to see how many positive effects seem to have been generated by just four months of telemedical care, education and coaching. It seems obvious that more of these programs should be rolled out to rural areas that have little access to routine medical care. While there are barriers to doing so, including but not limited to adequate Internet access, it seems these can be addressed without undue expense. I look forward to hearing more about telehealth programs designed to reach the isolated chronically ill.