Telehealth Utilization in Low Resource Settings
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Document Type
Book Chapter
Description
Chapter in Sustainable Community Health Systems and Practices in Diverse Settings, edited by Elias Mpofu.
Chapter Description:
In response to health access barriers, telehealth and telemedicine have grown as a supplemental healthcare delivery system to mainstream medical care. For rural and remote communities, which are mostly less well resourced, telehealth and telemedicine is increasingly a major system enabling health access and availability, bridging population health disparities by geography and socioeconomic gradients. People in low resources settings have less access to health care, while commuting for health services to the cities would be costly in terms of time, effort, and money, resulting in health inequities and social injustices on them. In this chapter, we examine the role of telehealth and telemedicine as health systems for providing sustainable community health in low resource settings. In doing so, we provide a historical overview of the research and practice in telehealth and telemedicine, followed by a discussion of current leading practices in telehealth and telemedicine. We consider the cultural and legal influences on telehealth and telemedicine services across jurisdictions highlighting responsiveness to local contexts and needs. Finally, we consider the issues for research and practice in telehealth and telemedicine, including security and privacy associated with telehealth; education for sustaining telehealth delivery; engaging high-risk populations from low-resource settings in telehealth services; and use of social networks to ensure telehealth care access for poor and remote regions.
Book description:
Applying a trans-disciplinary approach, this book provides a comprehensive, research-based guide to understanding, implementing, and strengthening sustainable community health in diverse international settings. By examining the interdependence of environmental, economic, public health, community wellbeing, and development factors, the authors address the systemic factors impacting health disparities, inequality, and social justice issues.
The book analyzes strategies based on a partnership view of health, in which communities determine their health and wellness working alongside local, state, and federal health agencies. Crucially, it demonstrates that communities are themselves health systems and their wellbeing capabilities affect the health of individuals and the collective alike. It identifies health indicators and tools that communities and policy makers can utilize to sustain truly inclusive health systems. This book offers a unique resource for researchers and practitioners working across psychology, mental health, rehabilitation, public health, epidemiology, social policy, healthcare, and allied health.
ISBN
978-3-030-59686-6
Publication Date
2020
Publisher
Springer
Keywords
Population Health, sustainable community health, Counseling Psychology, Public Health, epidemiology, Sustainable Development Goals, SDG 3Rehabilitation Counseling, health disparities, social justice, Health Services, community health systems, Nutrition Practices, Substance Use, Community Epidemiological Approaches, Community Health Informatics, Telehealth, neurodiverse wellbeing, Indigenous Community Health, wellbeing across the lifecourse
Recommended Citation
Bernacchio, C.P., Wilson, J.F., Ginige, J.A. (2020). Telehealth utilization in low resource settings. In E. Mpofu. (Ed.). Sustainable community health: Systems and practices in diverse settings (pp. 361-391).Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59687-3_11
