Telehealth stroke education for rural elderly Virginians.
OBJECTIVE
Stroke is a prevalent condition found in elderly, rural populations. However, stroke education, which can be effective in addressing the risks, is often difficult to provide in these remote regions. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of delivering stroke education to elderly individuals through telehealth versus in-person stroke prevention education methods.


METHODS
A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design was used in this study. A convenience sample of 11 elderly adults (36% men, 64% women) with a mean age of 70 was selected from an Appalachian Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (day care) facility. Subjects completed preintervention surveys, received a 20-min group in-person or telehealth delivered education session, and then completed the postintervention surveys.


RESULTS
Satisfaction with delivery method and post-education knowledge was equivalent between the two groups. Knowledge increased in both groups after the educational programs. Likelihood of reducing risk factors showed no differences pre-posttest. However, there were significant improvements in the pre-post likelihood scores of the telehealth group in contrast to the in-person group.


CONCLUSIONS
This project provided a rural, high-risk population access to telehealth stroke education, thus enabling these individuals to receive education at a distance from experts in the field. The telehealth program was found to be equivalent to in-person stroke education in regards to satisfaction, knowledge, and likelihood of making changes to decrease vascular risk factors. The study demonstrated feasibility in providing effective stroke education through telehealth, thus suggesting an often overlooked route for providing patient education at a distance.
Department of Radiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22908, USA. pas9c@virginia.edu
Patricia A
PA
Schweickert
Carolyn M
CM
Rutledge
David C
DC
Cattell-Gordon
Nina J
NJ
Solenski
Mary E
ME
Jensen
Sheila
S
Branson
John R
JR
Gaughen
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017145:Models, Educational; D017146:Models, Organizational; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D020521:Stroke; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D049269:Videoconferencing; D014768:Virginia