Bratches Reed W R, Onsando Wambui, Puga Frank, Odom J Nicholas, Barr Paul J
School of Nursing, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
Telemed J E Health. 2024 Mar;30(3):685-691. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2023.0314. Epub 2023 Sep 1.
Telehealth has seen widespread use since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and 82% patients required assistance in accessing their telehealth appointments. This assistance commonly comes from a family caregiver who may or may not be comfortable using the technologies associated with telehealth. The objective of our study was to analyze a demographically representative survey of U.S. family caregivers to understand the level of comfort using telehealth technologies among family caregivers. A secondary analysis of survey data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Level of caregiver comfort using computers, smartphones, and tablets was determined through three Likert-style questions. Proportional odds logistic regression was used to understand the associations between demographic variables and level of caregiver comfort using each technology, when adjusting for covariates. A total of 340 caregivers were included in the analysis. Compared with non-Hispanic white caregivers, Asian caregivers had higher odds (odds ratio [OR] 3.14; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.36, 8.02; = 0.01) of expressing comfort using computers; black caregivers (OR 0.46; 95% CI 0.21, 0.98; = 0.04) and Hispanic caregivers (OR 0.36; 95% CI 0.17, 0.79; = 0.01) expressed lower odds of comfort using smartphones; and Asian caregivers had higher odds (OR 4.64; 95% CI 2.05, 11.69; = 0.001) of expressing comfort using tablets. There are identified disparities in the level of technological comfort using computers, smartphones, and tablets by different racial and ethnic groups. Health systems should consider early stakeholder involvement in the design of telehealth technologies, culturally responsive training materials on telehealth technology use to reduce disparities in comfort using telehealth technologies.
自新冠疫情爆发以来，远程医疗得到了广泛应用，82%的患者在预约远程医疗服务时需要帮助。这种帮助通常来自家庭护理人员，他们使用与远程医疗相关技术时可能会感到自在，也可能不会。我们研究的目的是分析一项具有人口统计学代表性的美国家庭护理人员调查，以了解家庭护理人员使用远程医疗技术时的自在程度。对2020年新冠疫情期间收集的调查数据进行二次分析。通过三个李克特式问题确定护理人员使用电脑、智能手机和平板电脑时的自在程度。在调整协变量时，使用比例优势逻辑回归来了解人口统计学变量与护理人员使用每种技术时的自在程度之间的关联。共有340名护理人员纳入分析。与非西班牙裔白人护理人员相比，亚洲护理人员使用电脑时表示自在的几率更高（优势比[OR]3.14；95%置信区间[CI]1.36，8.02；P = 0.01）；黑人护理人员（OR 0.46；95% CI 0.21，0.98；P = 0.04）和西班牙裔护理人员（OR 0.36；95% CI 0.17，0.79；P = 0.01）使用智能手机时表示自在的几率较低；亚洲护理人员使用平板电脑时表示自在的几率更高（OR 4.64；95% CI 2.05，11.69；P = 0.001）。不同种族和族裔群体在使用电脑、智能手机和平板电脑的技术自在程度上存在差异。卫生系统应考虑让利益相关者尽早参与远程医疗技术的设计，提供关于远程医疗技术使用的具有文化适应性的培训材料，以减少使用远程医疗技术时自在程度的差异。
