Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106760

George Demiris, PhD, Department of Health Management and Informatics, University of Missouri-Columbia, 324 Clark Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, (573) 882-5772, DemirisG@health.missouri.edu, Debra Parker Oliver, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Missouri-Columbia, 719 Clark Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, Karen L. Courtney, RN, MSN, Dept. of Health Management & Informatics, University of Missouri - Columbia, 324 Clark Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, and Davina Porock, PhD RN, School of Nursing, University of Nottingham, A Floor, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, England, Nottingham, NG7 2HA, United Kingdom.

The goal of hospice care is to improve the quality of patients' last days by offering comfort and dignity, focusing on palliation, relief of suffering, and autonomy. Hospice providers have identified the following service barriers: staff shortages, geographic barriers and insufficient reimbursement. Telemedicine in hospice (telehospice) is considered as one possible tool that can surpass such barriers. The Telehospice project at the University of Missouri-Columbia includes the design and implementation of a sustainable and cost-effective model based on the use of commercially available videophones providing access to quality care for rural and urban populations. This project aims to explore whether telehospice will reduce caregivers' perceived isolation, and improve their quality of life. The design of the system was informed by two exploratory studies presented here.

We conducted a focus group to explore the feasibility of this intervention. Ten representatives, including administrators, nurses, and a social worker from five agencies participated. Participants expressed a positive attitude towards the use of videophones to enrich communication. Next, we assessed organizational readiness for telemedicine adoption by hospice agencies with a focus on the current use of different technologies by 124 hospice employees. Fifty two percent rated videophones as very beneficial or beneficial in hospice care.

We are currently recruiting caregivers and their patients for a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of the intervention on caregivers' quality of life. The control group in this study is receiving standard hospice care; whereas the intervention group also receives the addition of videophones.

Learning Objectives: