Collaborations in Action: A Holistic Model for Telehealth & Telecare

for the Community

Dr. Mary Casey, UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems

1. To present an inter-organisational model to secure collaboration between stakeholders and organisations

To present a model for the ongoing development and delivery of telehealth and telecare to the community

Higher numbers of aged people needing care

Increasing skills shortages in the health professional, especially in rural and regional areas

Cost of health careTherefore greater need for innovation in care

delivery

Collaboration in Action: A Model for Telehealth and Telecare in the Community

Friendly Call Ireland Ltd.

School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems

Context of Partnership – Telehealth and Telecare in the Community

Inputs

Outcomes

Pro

cess

es

Ski

lls

Internal Environment

External Environment

Coordinator

An inter-organisational model to secure collaboration between stakeholders and organisations involved in Telehealth and Telecare Casey 2006, (Modified)

Inputs

Outcomes

Coordinator

Inputs

Outcomes

Coordinator (Client Telehealth & Telecare Service Provider Friendly Call)

Technological Businesses (IBM/BOSCH/McElwaine) Software & Hardware

Academia (UCD, Georgia)

Client Groups e.g. (HSE, VHI, Quinn)

Timely & Appropriate Delivery

Clinically Effective

Distance versus Access

Cost Benefit

Efficient Resource Utilization

Challenge: How to bring it all together

Professional Regulatory

Bodies (IMO, ABA)

Pro

cess

es

Ski

lls

Internal Environment

External Environment

An inter-organisational model to secure collaboration between stakeholders and organisations involved in Telehealth and Telecare

Professionals Clinical Skills (Health)

Social Care Skills

Home Help

Professional Policy

Legal & Ethical Frameworks

Clinical Governance

External Environment

An inter-organisational model to secure collaboration between stakeholders and organisations involved in Telehealth and Telecare

Context is

Semi-permeable

EU Regulations

National Regulations

Internal Environment

Working Relationships between Organisations & Staff

Regulatory Bodies

Are we considering the human when we are using technology?

Telehealth Telecare

Telehealth: Telehealth represents an umbrella term with subsets or modalities such as tele-medicine, e-health and telehealth nursing. It is defined by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the United States (US) Department of Health and Human Services as, “the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health, and health administration” (Craig & Pam 2008).

Telecare: grew out of the social or community alarm infrastructure. It has been defined as “a high tech system that can detect if someone has fallen and needs help, if a pan has boiled over on the stove, or if there is a gas leak, fire or flooding” (Department of Health 2007). Social care can also have application in telecare. The friendly tele-carer can keep an eye on the older person for example through the use of a daily telephone call, though the extent of this application has not received much publicity or research to date.

Friendly Call Service

A Holistic Model for Telehealth & Telecare for the Community

Step 2. Plan the action

Step 3. Implement the action

Step 4. Evaluate the result of action Taken

Step 1. Diagnose the need for action

Steps in Implementing the Model in the Community

Thank you !