Effectiveness of Video-Telephone Nursing Care for the Homebound Elderly

Abstract

This study had a dual purpose: to develop measures of change in functioning among the elderly, and to identify the characteristics of groups of homebound elderly whose functioning is significantly improved with video-telephone nursing care. As part of the evaluation of a home telecare program in Belgium, data from all 71 elders who received home telecare were examined in order to describe the nature of the relationship between the care/support received and health outcomes. The elders' functioning was measured using 8 assessment scales. Eleven measures of change in functioning were developed using multidimensional scaling algorithms. Use of these measures in the decision tree model made possible the identification of groups of homebound elderly who showed significant improvement following tele-nursing care in well-defined domains of functioning. The findings suggest that telecare is an alternative care model that could be integrated into existing home-care services to provide older people with integrated health services.