The use of computers and the Internet as a source of health information for people with disabilities.

It becomes increasingly obvious that computers and the Internet will play a prominent role in healthcare in the 21st century in America. The use of these tools in telecommunications technology to inform and educate has resulted in the emerging field of interactive health communication (IHC). The value of this new field is heightened by its potential to make health-related information and services more accessible to vulnerable populations such as people with disabilities.

Telehealth: reaching out to newly injured spinal cord patients.

Objectives: The authors present preliminary results on health-related outcomes of a randomized trial of telehealth interventions designed to reduce the incidence of secondary conditions among people with mobility impairment resulting from spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: Patients with spinal cord injuries were recruited during their initial stay at a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta. They received a video-based intervention for nine weeks, a telephone-based intervention for nine weeks, or standard follow-up care.

Use of telerehabilitation to manage pressure ulcers in persons with spinal cord injuries.

Pressure ulcers are a common and serious secondary complication of spinal cord injury. In addition to being costly and difficult to treat, pressure ulcers may interfere with many aspects of patient and family life, including the ability to meet educational, vocational, and social goals. Treatment of pressure ulcers includes weekly assessment by a clinician, a requirement that often is impossible for clients to meet.

Using telehealth interventions to prevent pressure ulcers in newly injured spinal cord injury patients post-discharge. Results from a pilot study.

Objective: To determine which of three approaches to care produces the lowest incidence of pressure ulcers, promotes the most effective care of sores that develop, and leads to the fewest hospitalizations in newly injured patients with spinal cord injury after discharge.

Methods: Spinal cord injury patients (n = 12) were recruited for a telehealth intervention after initial injury, and matched cases were recruited for telephone counseling and standard care groups. Patients were monitored for 6-8 months after discharge.

A feasibility study of video-based home telecare for clients with spinal cord injuries.

We carried out a feasibility study of the use of a home telecare intervention to promote skin and other self-care activities for clients with spinal cord injuries (SCIs) following their discharge from a rehabilitation facility. Eleven clients (mean age 38 years) participated in at least three video-sessions over a minimum of six weeks. The equipment used was a video-phone which could transmit both audio and still images over an ordinary telephone line.