Telephone Support and Telemonitoring for Low-Income Older Adults

The objective of the current pilot study was to determine whether nurse-led telephone counseling improves health behavior, self-care, and physiological indices for low-income older adults using a telemonitoring system. The control group (n = 15) was provided with weekly health education only, and the intervention group (n = 20) was given additional telephone support by nurses. At baseline and 8 weeks, data on health and self-care behaviors were collected using a self-reported questionnaire, and blood pressure and fasting blood glucose levels were assessed. Nurse-led telephone support had a medium effect on improving health behavior (Cohen's d = 0.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.10, 1.27]), reducing systolic blood pressure (Cohen's d = -0.61, 95% CI [-1.29, 0.08]), and improving self-care behavior for hypertension (Cohen's d = 1.16, 95% CI [0.05, 2.27]). Findings support that nurse-led telephone support may be effective for improvements in health behavior, systolic blood pressure, and hypertension self-care in disadvantaged older adults under remote monitoring. Further studies are needed to obtain a powered sample size and investigate the long-term effects of personalized elements surrounding telehealth in community-based settings. [Res Gerontol Nurs. 2018; 11(4):198-206.].