A study of a rural community's readiness for telehealth.
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.
Health Telematics Unit, University of Calgary, Canada. jennett@ucalgary.ca
Penny
P
Jennett
Andora
A
Jackson
Theresa
T
Healy
Kendall
K
Ho
Arminee
A
Kazanjian
Robert
R
Woollard
Susan
S
Haydt
Joanna
J
Bates
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology; D011639:Public Opinion; D012307:Risk Factors; D012423:Rural Health; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000458:organization & administration*