BackgroundProviding health services to an ageing population is challenging, and in rural areas even more so. It is expensive to provide high quality services to small populations who are widely dispersed; staff and patients are often required to travel considerable distances to access services, and the economic downturn has created a climate where delivery costs are under constant review. There is potential for technology to overcome some of these problems by decreasing or ceasing the need for patients and health professionals to travel to attend/deliver in-person appointments. A variety of eHealth initiatives (for example Pathways through Pain an online course aimed to aid self-help amongst those living with persistent pain) have been launched across the UK, but roll out remains at an early stage.MethodsThis mixed-methods study of older adults with chronic pain examines attitudes towards, current use of and acceptance of the use of technology in healthcare. A survey (n = 168, 40% response rate) captured broad experiences of the use of technology in health and social care. Semi-structured interviews (four with technology and seven without technology participants) elicited attitudes towards technology in healthcare and explored attributes of personal and social interaction during home visits.ResultsPeople suffering from chronic pain access healthcare in a variety of ways. eHealth technology use was most common amongst older adults who lived alone. There was broad acceptance of eHealth being used in future care of people with chronic pain, but older adults wanted eHealth to be delivered alongside existing in-person visits from health and social care professionals.ConclusionseHealth has the potential to overcome some traditional challenges of providing rural healthcare, however roll out needs to be gradual and begin by supplementing, not substituting, existing care and should be mindful of individual’s circumstances, capability and preferences. Acceptance of technology may relate to existing levels of personal and social contact, and may be greater where technological help is not perceived to be replacing in-person care.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0825-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Wild geese graze on improved pastures and young cereal crops and hence can cause considerable damage to agriculture, particularly in areas close to roosting sites. This study uses contingent valuation (CV) to establish whether government compensation payments currently made to farmers represent 'value for money' by estimating the value placed on goose conservation by the general public. Benefit estimates from a conventional interview approach are compared with a group-based approach, called the 'Market Stall (MS)'. This involves two 1 h meetings held 1 week apart and differs from conventional interviews in that participants are given more time to consider their preferences and to discuss their WTP question with other household members. We argue that this type of group-based approach to environmental valuation offers important advantages over individual interview approaches, especially for unfamiliar and/or complex environmental goods. #
This is an important and thought-provoking book that will be read by only a small proportion of those who will claim to have read it and by an even smaller proportion who will eventually reference it. Consequently, I have chosen to review the book in the following way. First, I describe, in a pedagogic manner, both the problem King's book addresses and his solution to this problem. Second, I comment on his methodology and its usefulness in typical geographical situations. In this section, I draw upon some of my own work on local modeling to suggest an alternative to King's use of the random coefficients model. Third, I make some general comments on the book.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.