A partnership model for the delivery of health education to rural and remote communities using multipoint videoconferencing.

Multipoint videoconferencing has been used by Women's Health Queensland Wide (WHQW) for the delivery of health education to the residents of regional, remote and rural Queensland communities. The educational programme was a partnership between WHQW and health professionals in the participating communities. Telephone interviews with the health professionals were used in a follow-up study. Fifty-one interviews were conducted in October and November 2002; these involved 43 of the 64 participating towns. The results suggested that the project contributed to improved social capital in the participating communities. In addition, it gave rise to unexpected but valuable outcomes for WHQW and, potentially, for the Queensland community. The project demonstrated that success in telehealth can be measured in terms of social and community effects, as well as clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness.