Outcomes of a Telehealth Intervention for Homebound Older Adults With Heart or Chronic Respiratory Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This was first online in January, it seems, but it has just come to our attention, a study published in The Gerentologist which indicates that “At follow-up, the telehealth intervention group reported greater increases in general health and social functioning, and improved in depression symptom scores as compared with usual care plus education group. The control group had significantly more visits to the emergency department than the telehealth group. There was an observed trend toward fewer hospital days for telehealth participants, but it did not reach significance at 12 months.” Unfortunately, what they mean by ‘telehealth’ is not defined in the article abstract. Outcomes of a Telehealth Intervention for Homebound Older Adults With Heart or Chronic Respiratory Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial The Gerontologist (2012) 52(4): 541-552. (Similarly titled article in the JTT in January: Outcomes of a home telehealth intervention for patients with heart failure.)