The Use of Video Conferencing for Persons with Chronic Conditions: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of studies that used Video Conferencing (VC) intervention for common chronic conditions. Chronic conditions account for the majority of poor health, disability, and death, and for a major portion of health-care expenditures in the United States. Innovative methods and interventions are needed to enhance care and management, improve access to care, improve patient outcomes, narrow health disparities and reduce health-care costs. Video Conferencing could be particularly relevant in improving health, care management, access and cost in the care of chronic illnesses. A comprehensive literature search process guided by the PRISMA statement led to the inclusion of 27 articles measuring video conferencing, at least one chronic illness, and patient outcomes for adults living in a community setting. While VC has been found to be feasible and effective, a low number of randomized controlled trials limit evidence. In addition, studies in this review were not designed to address the question of whether access to care in rural areas is improved through VC. Hence, more research is needed.

Simulated Video Consultations as a Learning Tool in Undergraduate Nursing: Students’ Perceptions

“…The main limitations of our study are related to technical problems during simulated video consultations, and these problems were aggravated by the internet connection overload during the COVID-19 confinement, as both tele-working and online classrooms were widespread. However, technical problems usually occur also in real-life video consultations, and their effectiveness is related to adequate network access and the correct functioning of technology [21,22,56]. Lastly, the high student satisfaction with simulated video consultations obtained in our study should be confirmed by other studies, so more research is needed in this field.…”

“…Before this pandemic, video consultations were mainly used with patients who had problems accessing the healthcare services [18], for medical consultations in primary and hospital care [19,20], and for chronic disease conditions [21][22][23]. In addition, video consultations were also used for communication between healthcare professionals and clinicians [24].…”

Simulated Nursing Video Consultations: An Innovative Proposal During Covid-19 Confinement

“…Our approach was to perform a high-fidelity simulation that complies with the requirements proposed by the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL Standards Committee, 2016a) during its performance, except that the scenario does not take place in a laboratory room adapted to simulate a primary care consulting room or a hospital room, but instead, this innovative experience relies on simulation in the shape of a video consultation. This is coherent with and adapted to the clinical practice reality in healthcare services (Mallow et al, 2016;Nordtug et al, 2018), especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (Greenhalgh et al, 2020;Hollander & Carr, 2020). In fact, simulated clinical scenarios were adapted to the reality of the confinement, with the teaching of health education matters specific to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as prevention of contagion measures and general recommendations (as e.g., anxiety management).…”

“…Consequently, national digital health strategies have focused their attention on video consultation in the form of online video conferences (Greenhalgh et al, 2020;Hollander & Carr, 2020). Video consultations have been mainly employed with patients who have common chronic conditions (Mallow et al, 2016) and primary care needs (Peters, Greenfield, Majeed, & Hayhoe, 2018); these types of consultations are even considered the future of healthcare (Spence, 2018). Specifically, nursing professionals have used video consultations in follow-up care for patients after surgery, chronic diseases, families of children with cancer, and premature infants (Nordtug, Rygg, & Brataas, 2018).…”

Group based video-conferencing for adults with depression: findings from a user-led qualitative data analysis using participatory theme elicitation

“…One of the more promising forms of online support is through the use of Video Conferencing VC technology [9][10][11] with a recent Cochrane review showing how VC based therapy can be effective for mental health issues [12]. Given the ubiquitous nature of online technologies, VC services are easily available and accessible, which may enable preventative processes to occur sooner.…”