The development and effectiveness of telecare from an integrated technological, humanistic and management perspective

Abstract

A decreasing birthrate coupled with a growing elderly population has lead to an increased focus on elderly-centric issues such as long-term care and senior healthcare. Recent advances in information, communication and biomedical technologies have combined to allow the development of various types of telemedicine technology designed to enhance or expand patient services and care. To date, most telecare studies have focused on the development of underlying technologies rather than on patient (customer) perceptions regarding service mechanisms. The lack of the latter makes obtaining an effective understanding of the actual needs and problems of the elderly population difficult, and limits the potential for clinical implementation of study findings and further knowledge development. This article reviews important articles in the literature on telecare and evaluates the effectiveness of telecare-related technologies. Three key aspects associated with eight sub-indictors were identified. These included the aspects of technology (system quality); humanism (institutional trust and privacy risk); and management (service quality, cost benefit, satisfaction, use intention, and influence on health). An integrated perspective combining social and technological aspects is needed to facilitate increasing utilization of and satisfaction with telecare. Simply implementing new systems built around this innovative technology is not sufficient, and may be counterproductive. This article was written to help stimulate deeper exploration and insights into academic theory and clinical practice in order to help shape and create a better vision of aging in place.