Objective : To assess the effects of telephone-based support on smoking, preterm birth, low birthweight, breastfeeding, and postpartum depression.

https://www.jognn.org/article/S0884-2175(15)30092-7/pdf

A Systematic Review of Telephone Support for Women During Pregnancy and the Early Postpartum Period

OBJECTIVE To assess the feasibility of providing in-home adjunctive and supportive services to persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their families via a Web site. DESIGN Nineteen families were provided with access to the Web site intervention for 6 months. Those who needed it were provided with a computer and Internet service in their homes. PARTICIPANTS Adult women who were the significant others of adult males with moderate-to-severe TBI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Value and ease of use of the Web site. Each participant's usage of the Web site was automatically tracked including each page visited, time of day, and time spent on the page. RESULTS Female significant others found the Web site to be valuable and easy to use, and used it throughout the 6-month period. The on-line support group was the most used and valued module. CONCLUSIONS Family caregivers will use Web-based interventions to help meet their needs for social support, information, and guidance following the return home of persons with TBI.

An interactive Web-based intervention for persons with TBI and their families: use and evaluation by female significant others.

Objectives The authors describe computer services designed to make patients better informed and more motivated to participate in treatment. Patients use these services through their touch-tone telephone; access to a home computer or a modem is not needed. Methods The authors tested the impact of these computer services on the management of 179 pregnant women who had used cocaine during pregnancy or 1 month before pregnancy (as reported by the woman). Patients were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups; only the experimental group had access to the computer services. Patients were enrolled during the prenatal period and followed for 6 months after the birth of a live child. Self-reported data on the subjects' participation in drug treatment programs, health status (using the SF-36), and addiction severity (using the addiction severity index) were collected. The computer collected data on the frequency of the use of the service. The dependent variables were participation in formal treatment during the course of the project, and drug and alcohol use at exit interview. Multiple and logistic regressions were used to identify the effects of the intervention after controlling for demographic and baseline variables. Results Data showed that poor, pregnant, undereducated clients who use drugs and lived in multiple residences could use the services; about one-third of clients used the services more than three times a week. Access to the service did not lead to significant change in patients' health status, drug use, or utilization of services. Use of the services did lead to significant changes in participation in drug treatment: subjects who used the service more than three times a week were 1.5 times more likely to participate in formal drug treatment than subjects who used the service less often. Participation in formal drug treatment, however, was not effective in reducing the drug or the alcohol use. Conclusions Almost all patients used the computer services to some extent, but there seems to be a threshold after which the use of the services had a more positive impact.

A randomized trial of a telecommunications network for pregnant women who use cocaine.

A literature review was conducted to identify research into multiple-contact (i.e. extended) telemedicine interventions for substance-use disorder. The goals were: (1) to describe the methodology used to evaluate telemedicine interventions; (2) to identify the range of interventions which have been formally evaluated; and (3) to summarize the findings. Fourteen databases and Google Scholar were searched, as well as bibliographies of relevant papers and online conference abstracts. There were 50 studies which met the inclusion criteria, of which 50% were randomized controlled trials. The studies most frequently reported the effect on substance use and 61% of those findings fully supported telemedicine interventions. Although the studies reported persistent challenges in sustaining participation, 76% of the studies reporting on satisfaction indicated that participants were enthusiastic supporters of telemedicine. Only 30% of reviewed studies addressed the effect on resource utilization. The majority of studies reported evidence of clinical effectiveness, which justifies continued research in the field.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1258/jtt.2011.110608

Telemedicine interventions for substance-use disorder: a literature review:

Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older People: a Literature review

This paper describes our experience using telephone conference calls to conduct support groups for chemically-dependent women. Forty-seven women agreed to participate in regular, weekly support groups that were conducted by two chemical dependency counselors. Counselors attempted to conduct 59 support groups via a telephone conferencing system. Our data indicated that attendance at these sessions was poor. Seventeen sessions had no participants. No group sessions were attended by 4 or more women, and only 3 sessions (7.1%) included 3 participants. Very few clients made regular use of the support groups. Only 4 clients (8.5%) participated in more than 3 group sessions. Our findings suggest that teleconferencing may not be the most effective method for providing support services to chemically-dependent women.

Balinda Cavor

Papers

Participation in Teleconference Support Groups: Application to Drug-Using Pregnant Patients