Objectives To determine the relative influence of different factors on place of death in patients with cancer.

Data sources Four electronic databases—Medline (1966-2004), PsycINFO (1972-2004), CINAHL (1982-2004), and ASSIA (1987-2004); previous contacts with key experts; hand search of six relevant journals.

Review methods We generated a conceptual model, against which studies were analysed. Included studies had original data on risk factors for place of death among patients, > 80% of whom had cancer. Strength of evidence was assigned according to the quantity and quality of studies and consistency of findings. Odds ratios for home death were plotted for factors with high strength evidence.

Results 58 studies were included, with over 1.5 million patients from 13 countries. There was high strength evidence for the effect of 17 factors on place of death, of which six were strongly associated with home death: patients' low functional status (odds ratios range 2.29-11.1), their preferences (2.19-8.38), home care (1.37-5.1) and its intensity (1.06-8.65), living with relatives (1.78-7.85), and extended family support (2.28-5.47). The risk factors covered all groups of the model: related to illness, the individual, and the environment (healthcare input and social support), the latter found to be the most important.

Conclusions The ne of factors that influence where patients with cancer die is complicated. Future policies and clinical practice should focus on ways of empowering families and public education, as well as intensifying home care, risk assessment, and training practitioners in end of life care.

https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/332/7540/515.full.pdf

Factors influencing death at home in terminally ill patients with cancer: systematic review.

We conducted a systematic review of studies employing telehealth interventions which focused on family caregivers' outcomes. The Embase, CINHAL, Cochrane and PubMed databases were searched using combinations of keywords including "telehealth," "telemedicine," "telecare," "telemonitoring," "caregiver" and "family." The initial search produced 4205 articles, of which 65 articles met the inclusion criteria. The articles included 52 experimental studies, 11 evaluation studies, one case study and one secondary analysis. Thirty-three articles focused on family caregivers of adult and older patients, while 32 articles focused on parental caregivers of paediatric patients. The technologies included video, web-based, telephone-based and telemetry/remote monitoring. Six main categories of interventions were delivered via technology: education, consultation (including decision support), psychosocial/cognitive behavioural therapy (including problem solving training), social support, data collection and monitoring, and clinical care delivery. More than 95% of the studies reported significant improvements in the caregivers' outcomes and that caregivers were satisfied and comfortable with telehealth. The review showed that telehealth can positively affect chronic disease care, home and hospice care.

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A systematic review of telehealth tools and interventions to support family caregivers

Background: Home telemonitoring figures among the various solutions that could help attenuate some of the problems associated with aging populations, rates of chronic illness, and shortages of health professionals. Objective: The primary aim of this study was to further our understanding of the clinical effects associated with home telemonitoring programs in the context of chronic diseases. Results: In all, 62 empirical studies were analyzed. The results from studies involving patients with diabetes indicated a trend toward patients with home telemonitoring achieving better glycemic control. In most trials in which patients with asthma were enrolled, results showed significant improvements in patients' peak expiratory flows, significant reductions in the symptoms associated with this illness, and improvements in perceived quality of life. Virtually all studies involving patients with hypertension demonstrated the ability of home telemonitoring to reduce systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure. Lastly, due to the equivocal nature of current findings of home telemonitoring involving patients with heart failure, larger trials are still needed to confirm the clinical effects of this technology for these patients. Conclusions: Although home telemonitoring appears to be a promising approach to patient management, designers of future studies should consider ways to make this technology more effective as well as controlling possible mediating variables.

Clinical Effects of Home Telemonitoring in the Context of Diabetes, Asthma, Heart Failure and Hypertension: A Systematic Review

Background: Pediatric patients with health conditions requiring follow-up typically depend on a caregiver to mediate at least part of the necessary two-way communication with health care providers on their behalf. Health information technology (HIT) and its subset, information communication technology (ICT), are increasingly being applied to facilitate communication between health care provider and caregiver in these situations. Awareness of the extent and nature of published research involving HIT interventions used in this way is currently lacking. Objective: This scoping review was designed to map the health literature about HIT used to facilitate communication involving health care providers and caregivers (who are usually family members) of pediatric patients with health conditions requiring follow-up. Methods: Terms relating to care delivery, information technology, and pediatrics were combined to search MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL for the years 1996 to 2008. Eligible studies were selected after three rounds of duplicate screening in which all authors participated. Data regarding patient, caregiver, health care provider, HIT intervention, outcomes studied, and study design were extracted and maintained in a Microsoft Access database. Stage of research was categorized using the UK’s Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions. Quantitative and qualitative descriptive summaries are presented. Results: We included 104 eligible studies (112 articles) conducted in 17 different countries and representing 30 different health conditions. The most common conditions were asthma, type 1 diabetes, special needs, and psychiatric disorder. Most studies (88, 85%) included children 2 to 12 years of age, and 73 (71%) involved home care settings. Health care providers operated in hospital settings in 96 (92%) of the studies. Interventions featured 12 modes of communication (eg, Internet, intranets, telephone, video conferencing, email, short message service [SMS], and manual downloading of information) used to facilitate 15 categories of functions (eg, support, medication management, education, and monitoring). Numerous patient, caregiver, and health care relevant outcomes have been measured. Most outcomes concerned satisfaction, use, usability, feasibility, and resource use, although behavior changes and quality of life were also reported. Most studies (57 studies, 55%) were pilot phase, with a lesser proportion of development phase (24 studies, 23%) and evaluation phase (11 studies, 11%) studies. HIT interventions addressed several recurring themes in this review: establishing continuity of care, addressing time constraints, and bridging geographical barriers. Conclusions: HIT used in pediatric care involving caregivers has been implemented differently in a range of disease settings, with varying needs influencing the function, form and synchronicity of information transfer. Although some authors have followed a phased approach to development, evaluation and implementation, a greater emphasis on methodological standards such as the MRC guidance for complex interventions would produce more fruitful programs of development and more useful evaluations in the future. This review will be especially helpful to those deciding on areas where further development or research into HIT for this purpose may be warranted.

Health information technology to facilitate communication involving health care providers, caregivers, and pediatric patients: a scoping review.

Context Telemedicine services are increasingly utilized by patients, clinicians, and institutions. Although private and Federal insurers are covering some telemedicine services, the rationale for these coverage decisions is not always evidence-based. Objectives The goal of this report was to assess the peer-reviewed literature for telemedicine services that substitute for face-to-face medical diagnosis and treatment that may apply to the Medicare population. We focused on three distinct areas: store-and-forward, home-based, and office/hospital-based services. We also sought to identify what progress had been made in expanding the evidence base since the publication of our initial report in 2001 (AHRQ Publication No. 01-E012). Data sources Ovid MEDLINE, reference lists of included studies, and non-indexed materials recommended by telemedicine experts. Study selection Included studies had to be relevant to at least one of the three study areas, address at least one key question, and contain reported results. We excluded articles that did not study the Medicare population (e.g., children and pregnant adults) or used a service that does not require face-to-face encounters (e.g., radiology or pathology diagnosis). Data extraction Our literature searches initially identified 4,083 citations. Using a dual-review process, 597 of these were judged to be potentially relevant to our study at the title/abstract level. Following a full-text review, 97 studies were identified that met our inclusion criteria and were subsequently included in the report's evidence tables. Data synthesis Store-and-forward services have been studied in many specialties, the most prominent being dermatology, wound care, and ophthalmology. The evidence for their efficacy is mixed, and in most areas, there are not corresponding studies on outcomes or improved access to care. Several limited studies showed the benefits of home-based telemedicine interventions in chronic diseases. These interventions appear to enhance communication with health care providers and provide closer monitoring of general health, but the studies of these techniques were conducted in settings that required additional resources and dedicated staff. Studies of office/hospital-based telemedicine suggest that telemedicine is most effective for verbal interactions, e.g., videoconferencing for diagnosis and treatment in specialties like neurology and psychiatry. Conclusions There are still significant gaps in the evidence base between where telemedicine is used and where its use is supported by high-quality evidence. Further well-designed and targeted research that provides high-quality data will provide a strong contribution to understanding how best to deploy technological resources in health care.

Telemedicine for the medicare population: update.

The delivery of health care is often segmented into sectors. In Canada, hospital care has traditionally been distinct from community care, and thus the transition of patients across sectors has been challenging. This paper focuses on the systematic development of an integrated model of care for children, for the purpose of smoothing the transition from hospital to home. The new service model uses emerging telecommunications technology to link hospital care providers to patients at home and is termed "telehomecare" (THC). Independent models of THC were developed for three sites across Canada through semistructured interviews and focus groups. Participants included health care providers and administrators from the hospital and community, and patient families. The resulting models were compared using content analysis to determine whether there was a core model of THC that was generalisable across Canada. A core model of THC was identified that includes the use of videoconferencing to enable the integration of hospital- and community-based care to support patients during the initial stages of the transition to home. Each site also articulated unique characteristics in their service model that were related to the nature of their health care delivery system and patient population. This paper describes the core model of transitional care, presents a synopsis of each of the three models, and compares the models. THC provides opportunities to address limitations in the current system and to improve upon equity of access to quality care for children making the transition from hospital to home.

Telehomecare: a comparison of three Canadian models.

Infants and children hospitalized with complex conditions often face sudden and dramatic reduction in supervision and monitoring after discharge. A telehome care program was designed to improve the transition home for these children by integrating visiting home care services with outreach from pediatric nurses located in the hospital via videoconferencing. Children were recruited into a trial of telehome care for up to 6 weeks following discharge. Parental preference for this service was measured prior to and following participation. There were 10 enrollments in the pilot stage and 57 during the trial. These children had serious chronic conditions with comorbidity. The majority had a cardiac, respiratory, or otolaryngolic primary diagnosis. More than half of the respondents (59%) indicated strong preferences for telehome care prior to participation. The satisfaction for care delivered at home was no different from care in the hospital. There was no difference in satisfaction or preference observed by sociodemographic factors, diagnosis, or clinical circumstance. Parents with children who have significant health care needs have a strong preference for and satisfaction with telehome care. Additional evidence on costs and benefits may be important for promoting further development of this type of service.

Carolyn Daniels

Papers

Telehomecare: a comparison of three Canadian models.

Preference for pediatric telehome care support following hospitalization: a report on preference and satisfaction.