Putting the 'tele' into health-care effectively

Feasibility of a telemedicine ‘booth’ for supporting remote care in Scotland

Summary

Access to health care in remote settings is becoming increasingly difficult in Scotland. We have investigated the feasibility of a telemedicine ‘booth’. Two telemedicine booths were constructed for display at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh. One was equipped for patient use and one for the doctor. The booths contained videoconferencing and physiological monitoring equipment connected via an IP link at a bandwidth of 1.1 Mbit/s. The picture resolution was 4CIF (704 x 576 pixels). A total of 238 members of the public used the booth for a teleconsultation with a doctor. Ninety-three percent completed questionnaires. Of the 221 respondents, 75% saw the booth as an opportunity to access specialist advice; 84% felt that the booth would save them attending a hospital or clinic; 60% felt that it would improve the way they looked after their own health. The concept of a telemedicine booth appears both feasible and acceptable to the public.

From psychotherapy to e-therapy: the integration of traditional techniques and new communication tools in clinical settings

Technology is starting to influence psychological fields. In particular, computer-mediated communication (CMC) is providing new tools that can be fruitfully applied in psychotherapy. These new technologies do not substitute for traditional techniques and approaches but they could be used as integration in the clinical process, enhancing or making easier particular steps of it. This paper focuses on the concept of e-therapy as a new modality of helping people resolve life and relationship issues. It utilizes the power and convenience of the Internet to allow synchronous and asynchronous communication between patient and therapist. It is important to underline that e-therapy is not an alternative treatment, but a resource that can be added to traditional psychotherapy. The paper also discusses how different forms of CMC can be fruitfully applied in psychology and psychotherapy, by evaluating the effectiveness of them in the clinical practice. To enhance the diffusion of e-therapy, further research is needed to evaluate all the pros and cons.