Experiences of palliative care patients accessing psychosocial support through telehealth

Abstract

Background The primary objective of this piece of research was to explore participants’ experience of using telehealth to access psychosocial support. Modernization’ is a key health policy objective in the UK; new information and communications technologies have been seen as one of the key mechanisms by which these changes can be engineered (May, Finch, Mair, & Mort (2005). This study aimed to respond to the research question: How do patients make sense of their experience of accessing psychosocial support through telehealth? Methods A longitudinal multiple case study design was used to explore patient experiences of accessing support through telehealth. Three palliative care participants were provided with videoconferencing equipment to access support from their own homes. Semi structured interviews were conducted at monthly intervals over a period of three months. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the data Results Three superordinate themes were identified across the three case studies: Facilitation of a relatedness supportive environment, autonomy and empowerment, and intrinsic and extrinsic self-awareness. On a longitudinal level, need satisfaction of the patients remained relatively stable across the monthly interval time points. Discussion The research findings provide a good insight into the feasibility of the use of telehealth to access psychological support. The findings also provide a theoretical insight through self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985), of how the provision of psychosocial support through telehealth can be a useful way of satisfying psychological needs of palliative care patients.