Findings from this study suggest that there are systematic differences between the overall structure of health helplines and physically co-present primary care consultations. We demonstrate that the delivery of health information and advice via helplines can be challenging, but that service can be enhanced through continued efforts to inform understanding about how medical encounters routinely unfold in over-the-phone environments.
Previous research indicates that physical examination in telehealth can be challenging, particularly in environments where clinicians need patients to examine themselves. This study identifies how nurses on a helpline manage this challenge. The findings highlight ways in which nurses can recruit patients to undertake tasks that would typically be undertaken by clinicians in physically co-present consultations.
Men's health has been a popular topic of academic exploration for the majority of the past 20 years. 1 Overall, men in Australia have poorer health outcomes across a variety of indicators. Both life expectancy and health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) are lower in Australian men than women, although the gap in HALE has decreased in recent years. Conversely, men engage with primary health services less frequently. [2][3][4] While there is some evidence that the gendered gap in help-seeking reduces when accounting for visits relating to gender-specific health issues, like reproductive health, 5 other studies have found that the discrepancy can only be partially accounted for when considering these primary health contacts. 6,7,8 This gendered pattern of help-seeking exists despite men experiencing lower
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