Mrs. Smith is a 92-year-old woman living in a rural area who has experienced a recent fall. Access to care is difficult for her due to living a long distance from any health-care services. Mrs. Smith is offered telehealth as an option for occupational therapy. She has had negative experiences with technology in the past. Mrs. Smith tries it and calls to complain. The barrier in telehealth described here can be due to all but:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Perceptions of technology and the use of telehealth to receive health-care services can vary based on each person's prior experience. If the clients or practitioners had a negative experience with technology in the past, they may be less open to using technology for health-care services. In addition, limited experience with technology or the use of telehealth may make people more skeptical about its effectiveness when they compare it to their experience of receiving services in the traditional in-person model. Furthermore, clients and practitioners may be hesitant to use telehealth because of the perceived lack of a personal connection to build positive rapport, or the risk to one's privacy (Cimperman, Brencic, Trkman, & Stanonik, 2013; Levy & Strachan, 2013). Building a telehealth program that incorporates user-centered design (e.g., the use of technology familiar to the client, intuitive software, etc.) with procedures in place to provide training and ongoing assessment can increase the overall success of the telehealth program by improving user perception (Demiris et al., 2010).

Mrs Smith Is a 92-Year-Old Woman Living in a Rural