Gately Megan E, Tickle-Degnen Linda, Trudeau Scott A, Ward Nathan, Ladin Keren, Moo Lauren R
Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, United States.
Department of Occupational Therapy, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, United States.
Int J Telerehabil. 2020 Dec 8;12(2):35-42. doi: 10.5195/ijt.2020.6337.
Family caregivers are vital to telehealth-delivered dementia care. The objective of this mixed methods descriptive study conducted in the VA Bedford Healthcare System was to examine caregiver satisfaction with a video telehealth dementia home safety occupational therapy evaluation. Ten caregivers of Veterans with dementia participated. Ratings of caregiver satisfaction, measured by nine Likert scale items including ability to see and hear, were examined in relation to person and visit-related contextual factors extracted from research assistants' field notes, to develop an in-depth understanding of caregiver experience. Person factors included caregiver age and gender and Veteran cognitive status. Visit-related contextual factors included occurrence of technical glitches. Caregiver visit satisfaction was overall positive, with exceptions related to technological glitches and the presence of the person with dementia during the visit. Veteran cognitive status appeared to influence caregiver satisfaction. Implications of the study are that proactively addressing technical glitches and incorporating dementia stage-specific approaches may optimize caregivers' telehealth experience.
家庭护理人员对通过远程医疗提供的痴呆症护理至关重要。这项在贝德福德退伍军人医疗保健系统开展的混合方法描述性研究的目的是，考察护理人员对视频远程医疗痴呆症家庭安全职业治疗评估的满意度。十位患有痴呆症退伍军人的护理人员参与了研究。通过包括视觉和听觉能力在内的九个李克特量表项目来衡量护理人员的满意度，并将其与从研究助理的实地记录中提取的个人及与就诊相关的背景因素相关联，以深入了解护理人员的体验。个人因素包括护理人员的年龄和性别以及退伍军人的认知状态。与就诊相关的背景因素包括技术故障的发生情况。护理人员对就诊的满意度总体上是积极的，但与技术故障以及就诊期间痴呆症患者在场的情况有关的方面除外。退伍军人的认知状态似乎会影响护理人员的满意度。该研究的意义在于，积极解决技术故障并采用针对痴呆症不同阶段的方法可能会优化护理人员的远程医疗体验。
