Newcastle University

Project:

Telecare Study

Project Leader(s): Professor Carl May
Contact: Dr Tracy Finch
Sponsors: Department of Health

Telecare is the use of information technology to facilitate links between patients and health and social care professionals for the purpose of health management. Telecare has the potential to improve access to services, reduce inequalities, and improve the experiences of service users. However practical experience has revealed real problems of integrating telecare into existing service provision. This study aims to:

1. identify, describe and understand those factors that promote or inhibit the implementation and integration of telecare systems for chronic disease management in the community with reference to key stakeholders; and
2. make practical recommendations for the effective resolution of implementation and integration problems in the UK.

The project consists of six interlinked work-packages designed to develop further understandings of telecare developments across policy domains, and between different sectors of the health care economy. The work-packages employ systematic and narrative reviews, task groups, and individual interviews with representatives of key stakeholder groups (industry, NHS professionals, service user representatives, and health and social care interface). The study will underpin the development of workable telecare systems for people with chronic disease in the community, and develop principles for this grounded in the experiences of key stakeholders across a range of lay, professional, and private sector communities.