Spanning boundaries into remote communities: an exploration of experiences with telehealth chronic disease self-management programs in rural northern ontario, Canada.

Background: In rural and remote settings, providing education programs for chronic conditions can be challenging because of the limited access and availability of healthcare services. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of participants in a chronic disease self-management program via telehealth (tele-CDSMP) and to identify facilitators and barriers to inform future tele-CDSMP delivery models.

Materials And Methods: Nineteen tele-CDSMP courses were delivered to 13 Northern Ontario (Canada) communities.

Increasing access to chronic disease self-management programs in rural and remote communities using telehealth.

Objective: This study examined whether a telehealth chronic disease self-management program (CDSMP) would lead to improvements in self-efficacy, health behaviors, and health status for chronically ill adults living in Northern Ontario, Canada. Two telehealth models were used: (1) single site, groups formed by participants at one telehealth site; and (2) multi-site, participants linked from multiple sites to form one telehealth group, as a strategy to increase access to the intervention for individuals living in rural and remote communities.

Subjects And Methods: Two hundred thirteen participants diagnosed with heart disease, stroke, lung disease, or arthritis attended the CDSMP at a preexisting Ontario Telemedicine Network studio from September 2007 to June 2008.