CVT implementation requires teams working together to negotiate a complex, distributed process across multiple sites. Such complexity places a premium on teamwork and communication among healthcare teams before, during, and after a CVT encounter.
5Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC, OH Context: Spinal cord injury and/or disorders (SCI/D) is a costly chronic condition. Impaired mobility, and lengthy travel distances to access specialty providers are barriers that can have adverse impact on expenses and quality of care. Although ample opportunities for use of telehealth technologies exist between medical facilities, and from clinical to home settings, field experience has largely been focused on home telehealth services to promote better patient self-management skills and improve clinical outcomes. Findings: This paper provides an overview of published literature on use of telehealth technologies with the SCI/D population. Presentation of case studies describe telehealth as a potential strategy for addressing disparities in providing quality care, and explore comprehensive management of multiple health issues in individuals with SCI/D. Experiences of providers in both private sector health-care systems and VHA medical facilities are described. Development of telehealth clinical protocols and adaptive devices that can be integrated with equipment to accommodate for the functional limitations in the SCI/D population are discussed as necessary for expansion of use of telehealth services. Rigorous research studies are lacking. As use of this technology spreads and issues surrounding implementation are addressed, we look forward to increased research to assess and evaluate its efficacy in the SCI/D population. Conclusion/clinical relevance: Telehealth in the home setting appears to be able to help persons with SCI/D remain in the community. As the use of telehealth increases, research will be necessary in both clinical and home settings to assess its efficacy in improving outcomes in the SCI/D population.
Abstract-Digital photographs are often used in treatment monitoring for home care of less advanced pressure ulcers. We investigated assessment agreement when stage III and IV pressure ulcers in individuals with spinal cord injury were evaluated in person and with the use of digital photographs. Two wound-care nurses assessed 31 wounds among 15 participants. One nurse assessed all wounds in person, while the other used digital photographs. Twenty-four wound description categories were applied in the nurses' assessments. Kappa statistics were calculated to investigate agreement beyond chance (p < or = 0.05). For 10 randomly selected "double-rated wounds," both nurses applied both assessment methods. Fewer categories were evaluated for the double-rated wounds, because some categories were chosen infrequently and agreement could not be measured. Interrater agreement with the two methods was observed for 12 of the 24 categories (50.0%). However, of the 12 categories with agreement beyond chance, agreement was only "slight" (kappa = 0-0.20) or "fair" (kappa = 0.21-0.40) for 6 categories. The highest agreement was found for the presence of undermining (kappa = 0.853, p < 0.001). Interrater agreement was similar to intramethod agreement (41.2% of the categories demonstrated agreement beyond chance) for the nurses' in-person assessment of the double-rated wounds. The moderate agreement observed may be attributed to variation in subjective perception of qualitative wound characteristics.
Background: A spinal cord injury disease management protocol (SCI DMP) was developed to address the unique medical, physical, functional, and psychosocial needs of those living with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D). The SCI DMP was piloted to evaluate DMP clinical content and to identify issues for broader implementation across the Veterans Affairs (VA) SCI System of Care. Methods: Thirty-three patients with SCI/D from four VA SCI centers participated in a 6-month pilot. Patients received customized SCI DMP questions through a data messaging device (DMD). Nurse home telehealth care coordinators (HTCC) monitored responses and addressed clinical alerts daily. One site administered the Duke Severity of Illness (DUSOI) Checklist and Short Form-8 (SF-8™) to evaluate the changes in comorbidity severity and health-related quality of life while on the SCI DMP. Results: Patients remained enrolled an average of 116 days, with a mean response rate of 56%. The average distance between patient's home and their VA SCI center was 59 miles. Feedback on SCI DMP content and the DMD included requests for additional clinical topics, changes in administration frequency, and adapting the DMD for functional impairments. Improvement in clinical outcomes was seen in a subset of patients enrolled on the SCI DMP. Conclusion: SCI HTCCs and patients reported that the program was most beneficial for newly injured patients recently discharged from acute rehabilitation that live far from specialty SCI care facilities. SCI DMP content changes and broader implementation strategies are currently being evaluated based on lessons learned from the pilot.
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