Final Assignment

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: TELEHEALTH 1

Research Proposal: Telehealth

Nikita Chapman

Liberty University

Author Note

Nikita Chapman

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to

Nikita Chapman. Email: [email protected]

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: TELEHEALTH 2

Data Analysis

The data collection will be based on the survey involving patients who will be interviewed.

The questions related to the interview and the questionnaire will be developed to understand the

comfort and satisfaction level of the patients who are using the telehealth system to seek help

from their physicians. With the interviewer, the questionnaire will distribute relevant information

and data regarding the benefits of the telehealth system. Considering the conditions due to the

pandemic, these tools will be facilitated by video calls and emails to avoid physical contact.

After collecting the data in the form of an interview and questionnaire, the synthesized

data will then be subjected to SPSS, which is a statistical tool to analyze the collected data and

its significance (Gamble, 2017, p. 2338). For this purpose, a quantitative approach will be

utilized to involve the patients' responses regarding their experience with the telehealth system

(Gamble, 2017, p. 2339). These responses need to be statistically explained to better understand

the success rate of telehealth systems in familiar people, especially in remote areas.

The questionnaire and interviews will also involve the demographic information of the

patients and their background to understand better the facilitation of the telehealth system in

different areas and people. The demographic information will include age, gender, ethnicity, and

race to determine which group benefited the most from the telehealth system. For this purpose,

the descriptive analysis will also be done, which will represent the background of the participants

in the form of percentages and frequencies (Hancock et al., 2019, p. 114).

An inferential statistical test will analyze the determination of other factors included in the

questionnaire and interview questions. Inferential statistical tests allowed the researchers to

explain the possible findings from which a conclusion can be drawn representing that particular

population. For this purpose, a Chi-square test will be performed to determine significant

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: TELEHEALTH 3

findings that can help explain the proposed telehealth system, i.e., whether it fulfilled its purpose

and facilitated people of remote areas.

Rationale

The use of quantitative analysis helps provide synthesized data that explains the figures, which

can help us determine the benefits of the telehealth (tele-wound) system for the people of distant

and remote areas.

Level of Significance

The significant value in this test will be p < 0.05. The p-value, p=0.01, is considered

highly significant (Gamble, 2017).

Anticipated Results

It is estimated that the proposed telehealth system will be beneficial for remote areas as it is

based on the provision of medical help to inaccessible areas. Sometimes the people of remote

areas have to cover long distances to reach the hospitals; however, with the help of telehealth

systems, they can access their physicians without the physical journey. Regular checkups can be

efficiently conducted through this system to avoid long distances and receive medical help

without waiting for their turn.

Mataxen & Webb (2019), explained that implementing a telehealth system to provide tele-

wound facilities to remote areas has proved to be beneficial in wound care of the patients.

According to this study, the individuals who were treated with the help of telehealth systems are

considered to have improved patient outcomes, which also resulted in cost savings leading to

speedy healing. Mataxen & Webb (2019), also suggested that the implementation of telehealth

systems is directly related to the improvement of the patients as it benefits the patient's clinical

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: TELEHEALTH 4

signs and healthcare systems in general. However, more research is still required to make the

systems more efficient in different locations where the patients can be treated.

In another study conducted by Hancock et al. (2019), the efficiency of the telehealth system

was assessed, which resulted in positive outcomes in the clinical trials. In this, the patients in the

remote areas were included and assessed by implementing the telehealth strategies. Clinical trials

detect the results brought a positive response from the patient, and this system was efficient in

providing clinical wound care treatment leading to cost-efficiency. From the findings of these

studies, it can be estimated that the current proposal will bring positive outcomes in terms of

increased patient satisfaction and improved healthcare leading to cost-efficiency.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Proposed Study

The telephone system utilizes modern means of communication while taking the patients to

avoid the rush in the hospitals or healthcare facilities. This system is targeted at the people of

remote areas where it is difficult for the patients to find different ways to cover these distances to

reach their nearest healthcare center. The proposed study will help them save their effort of

coming to the nearest healthcare facility for regular checkups. It is even more beneficial for older

people because of their health status. The tele-wound system under the category of telehealth

system will also provide the patients with necessary checkups without coming to the healthcare

facility (Hancock et al., 2019, p. 114)

However, it will be difficult for the elderly population to understand and utilize this system

because of technical knowledge. They may find it challenging to operate a digital system even

though it is easier to understand, but it may become more challenging for older adults. There is

also a chance of network unavailability, which can be due to natural disasters.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: TELEHEALTH 5

The involvement of both interviews and questionnaires will help cover more patients who

have been using the telehealth system. The questionnaires may be complicated for some

participants to fulfill due to a deficiency of technical knowledge. Therefore, the conduction of

interviews will suffice and allow the continuation of the data collection. The use of

telecommunication systems, including video calls and emails, will help avoid physical contact.

The implementation of statistical analysis will increase the validation of the research as it can

provide the statistically analyzed data representing whether the implementation of telehealth

systems will be beneficial for remote areas.

Suggestions for Future Research

Currently, the studies are restricted to limited remote areas with a small population based on

the older people, especially when it comes to the tale wound healthcare system. Therefore, there

is a need to expand the area of research, which can include people from different areas and acne

cities with an increased variety (Rutledge et al., 2021). It is necessary to understand how people

from different ethnicities consider implementing telehealth systems and what benefits will be

provided to the patients regarding the improvement in the provision of quality healthcare.

This study is limited to a smaller area. However, it can be expanded to larger areas. The study

can be expanded nationwide to understand the benefits of the telehealth system in different areas.

However, it can also be expanded to intercontinental interaction and implementation of

telehealth systems so that people from different countries can interact with physicians (Rutledge

et al., 2021). Moreover, there is also a necessity to make the general public aware of telehealth

systems through their mobile phone applications, which can bring various benefits, including

cost-efficiency of both the patients and the organizations. The adoption of telehealth systems and

the provision of digital care solutions is beneficial and, therefore, should be researched at a larger

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scale to identify limiting factors and possible solutions for the continuation of telehealth systems

(Gamble, 2017, p. 2340).

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References

Gamble. (2017). Guidelines for the Content of Statistical Analysis Plans in Clinical

Trials. JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association. 318(23), 2337–2343.

https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.18556

Hancock, S., Preston, N., Jones, H., & Gadoud, A. (2019). Telehealth in palliative care is being

described but not evaluated: A systematic review. BMC Palliative Care, 18(1), 114-

114. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-019-0495-5

Mataxen, P. A., & Webb, L. D. (2019). Telehealth nursing: More than just a phone call. Nursing

(Jenkintown, Pa.), 49(4), 11-

13. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000553272.16933.4b

Rutledge, C. M., O'Rourke, J., Mason, A. M., Chike-Harris, K., Behnke, L., Melhado, L.,

Downes, L., & Gustin, T. (2021). Telehealth competencies for nursing education and

practice: The four P's of telehealth. Nurse Educator, 46(5), 300-

305. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000000988