Videoconferencing for Health Care Provision for Older Adults in Care Homes: A Review of the Research Evidence.

Louise Newbould,Steven Ariss,Mark S Hawley,Gail Mountain

doi:10.1155/2017/5785613

Abstract

A scoping review was conducted to map the research evidence on the use of videoconferencing for remote health care provision for older adults in care homes. The review aimed to identify the nature and extent of the existing evidence base. Databases used were Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library Reviews. The review identified 26 articles for inclusion, of which 14 were case studies, making the most used study design. Papers described videoconferencing as being used for assessment, management of health care, clinical support, and diagnosis, with eight of the papers reporting the use of videoconferencing for more than one clinical purpose. A further eight papers reported the use of videoconferencing for assessment alone. The literature reported the collection of various types of data, with 12 papers describing the use of both qualitative and quantitative data. The outcomes mainly addressed staff satisfaction (n = 9) and resident satisfaction (n = 8). Current evidence supports the feasibility of videoconferencing in care homes. However, research needs to be undertaken to establish the contexts and mechanisms that underpin the successful implementation of videoconferencing in care homes and to define useful measures for success.

Highlights

Care homes are defined by the English Care Quality Commission (CQC) as homes that “offer accommodation and personal care for people who may not be able to live independently, with some homes offering 24-hour care from qualified nurses” [1]
The same research showed that health care provision to care homes in the UK is often inadequate in meeting residents’ needs [2]
Earlier work by the Care Quality Commission [3] reported that care home residents often have inadequate access to health care services

Summary

Introduction

Care homes are defined by the English Care Quality Commission (CQC) as homes that “offer accommodation and personal care for people who may not be able to live independently, with some homes offering 24-hour care from qualified nurses” [1]. According to Gordon et al (2014) around half of care home residents need help to mobilise, half are incontinent, and three-quarters have dementia [2]. The same research showed that health care provision to care homes in the UK is often inadequate in meeting residents’ needs [2]. Earlier work by the Care Quality Commission [3] reported that care home residents often have inadequate access to health care services. A range of digital technologies have already been used for health care purposes in care homes, for example, telemonitoring devices [5,6,7], telecare devices [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19], teleconferencing (the use of telephone) [20,21,22,23], electronic health care records [24, 25], telepresence devices (remotely controlled robots designed to give a sense of someone being in that location) [26, 27], digital pen and paper technology [28], and teleconferencing and audit feedback [29, 30]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion