Potential role and effectiveness of telehealth for healthcare-deprived or low-resource areas globally

URS - Potential role and effectiveness of telehealth for healthcare-deprived or low-resource areas globally

Project Info

2023 Oct – 2024 April, Undergraduate Research Society at University of South Florida

🔬 Team

Maribel Serracin, Giang Ha, Chelsea Gabarron, Maria Hanna, Maddie Jarzabek, Archana Rao, Lauren Song, Gayathri Mannem

Overview

Welcome to my first research project! This post documents our exploration of telehealth’s effectiveness in reaching underserved populations.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the landscape of healthcare delivery worldwide, fostering the expansion of telehealth. My interest in this topic was sparked during the pandemic when telehealth utilization surged as an adaptation to the challenges of providing continuous healthcare amidst restrictions on physical mobility and social distancing.

The field of telehealth has seen significant developments in recent years, particularly in expanding access to medical care. This project aims to assess the global impact and effectiveness of telehealth practices, especially for people who cannot access in-person healthcare due to reasons including but not limited to scarcity of nearby medical centers, lack of transportation, and lack of finances.

Research Question

This project seeks to address the following question:

What is the potential role and effectiveness of telehealth for healthcare-deprived or low-resource communities globally?

Additional questions explored include:

How has telehealth improved healthcare accessibility and quality, especially for underserved populations?
What disparities persist in telehealth implementation, and what barriers prevent equal access?
How can telehealth be optimized to close healthcare gaps between urban and rural patients?

Methodology

Data Collection

Articles discussing the effects of telehealth on healthcare-deprived or low-resource communities were collected and accessed through Rayyan. We conducted a systematic review of experimental and review articles to determine the global impact and effectiveness of telehealth practices.

Analysis Approach

We performed a systematic filtering through various study methods and variables to determine relevancy to our research topic. Our analysis evaluated telehealth’s role in enhancing accessibility, quality of care, and its potential in mitigating healthcare disparities.

Findings

Here are the key findings from our research:

Improved Accessibility: Telehealth has greatly improved accessibility to care by promoting remote healthcare and facilitating easy access to information through e-record systems.
Quality of Care: Telehealth has made improvements in quality of care for underserved populations and is helping close the healthcare gap between urban and rural patients.
Specialized Benefits: Telehealth has been particularly beneficial in areas such as remote screening, chronic condition management, addressing acute medical emergencies, and pediatric care.
Persistent Disparities: While telehealth can close mobility and transportation gaps, disparities due to insufficient internet, lack of access to devices, and language barriers continue to persist.

Discussion

Our research underscores the positive impacts of telehealth utilization within communities, especially those catering to healthcare-deprived or low-resource demographics. Telehealth initiatives have demonstrated significant strides in extending their scholarly approach to vital constituents, including lower-income communities, the elderly, and regions within developing nations.

Limitations

It’s important to acknowledge some limitations of this research:

Economic barriers remain significant, as the costs of essential telehealth equipment pose a challenge
Our study focused primarily on English-language publications, potentially missing insights from non-English sources
Long-term effectiveness data is still emerging as telehealth adoption continues to evolve

Future Directions

Based on what we’ve learned, here are some promising directions for future research:

Exploring training programs for healthcare professionals to better utilize telehealth technologies
Investigating how to close telehealth-related barriers for certain demographics such as older adults and racial and ethnic minorities
Developing low-cost telehealth solutions for implementation in extremely resource-limited settings