Telehealth interventions for older adults in rural settings
Citation: Rush KL, Singh S, Seaton CL, et al. Telehealth Use for Enhancing the Health of Rural Older Adults: A Systematic Mixed Studies Review. The Gerontologist. 2021;gnab141.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: University of British Columbia Okanagan’s Eminence Program, BC SUPPORT Unit Data Science and Health Informatics Methods Cluster project grant and Regional Socio-Economic Development Institute of Canada Fund.
What is this? Telehealth can be a cost-effective method of delivering health care which may help with the resilience of healthcare systems and health promotion for some populations, such as older adults living in rural communities.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies of the use of telehealth interventions by older adults (≥55 years) living in rural communities and the effect on health outcomes. They restricted their searches to articles published in English and did the search in June 2021. They included 35 quantitative, 3 qualitative and 4 mixed methods studies from Australia, Canada, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and USA.
What was found: Telehealth was found to be useful for health promotion and care management in older adults in rural settings.
Telehealth was found to be more cost-effective for healthcare provision than face-to-face care in this context.
Computer anxiety, inexperience with technology and digital literacy contributed to difficulty using technology and accessing telehealth methods.
There was mixed evidence for ease of use and usage of telehealth and technology for older adults in rural communities.
Implications: The authors of the review concluded that technological support is needed to help older adults with telehealth interventions. They stated that future studies should evaluate how digitalizing health care impacts on the access of adults living in rural communities, whether it is equitable and the relevance of socioeconomic factors.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of place of residence, education, socioeconomic status and age.
This summary was prepared by Yasmeen Saeed, checked by Ana Pizarro and Cristián Mansilla, and finalized by Mike Clarke.