Telehealth interventions to improve clinical nursing of elders

This chapter reviews reports of research conducted worldwide from 1966 to January 2001 on telehealth interventions in clinical nursing for elders. Reports were identified through a systematic search of MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsychInfo, ERIC, and ACM using the search terms Telemedicine or Health Information Networks, Nursing, and Research, and were restricted to those published in English. Reports of research using interactive computer technology to assess or intervene with nursing problems commonly observed in persons age 65 and older were sought. Only published reports presenting the findings of an exploratory or experimental study and exploring the association between one intervention variable and technology were included. The search resulted in 18 research reports describing eight research projects. Due to the preponderance of demonstrations and feasibility reports, the dearth of experimental investigations, and the heterogeneous nature of the few studies identified, statistical summarization was not attempted. Telehealth interventions have the potential to improve the clinical nursing care of elders because they provide alternative, equivalent approaches to assess key indicators of the physical and psychological state of elders; are acceptable to nurses, elders, and family caregivers; and may prove less costly than face-to-face interventions. Telehealth approaches provide not only acceptable substitutes for discrete nursing actions but also can serve as a context within which a large range of professional gerontological nursing services can be delivered in a manner that is timely and convenient for elders.