Purpose:
This study aimed to explore the satisfaction of elderly people with home telehealth services and the relationship to continue use intention.
Method:
Sixty elderly people were recruited in remote area of Taiwan who had adopted telehealth services for at least one year. This study developed a satisfaction scale that comprised five items regarding home telehealth users: 1. You believe your health condition improved after using telehealth services. 2. Home telehealth reduces care time for your health issues. 3. Telehealth services alleviate your concerns regarding health. 4. Home telehealth reduces your expenditures on health care. 5. Telehealth has superior overall service quality. In this Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). A linear regression analysis was used to understand the influence of elderly people’s satisfaction with telehealth and their intention to continue use.
Result:
The findings revealed that participants mean age was 65 ± 4.5 years. 66.7% were women; 71.7% lived with their family and 28.3% lived alone; 53.3% lived in the mountains; and 85% had suffered two or more chronic diseases. The satisfaction with telehealth services scored an average of 3.83 ± 0.75 (Table 1). Telehealth service satisfaction of elderly people was significantly associated with the continued use intention (p < .001; Table 2).
Conclusion:
These results will assist medical institutions to understand elderly home telehealth user experiences and provide future services that better comply with clients’ requirements.
Keywords: elderly, telehealth, satisfaction, use intention
Table 1. Satisfaction of elderly people with telehealth services
Item |
Minimum |
Maximum |
Mean |
Standard deviation |
Variance |
You think your health condition improved after using telehealth services |
3 |
5 |
3.93 |
0.740 |
0.547 |
Home telehealth reduces your care time for health issues |
3 |
5 |
3.66 |
0.757 |
0.573 |
Telehealth services alleviate your concerns with health |
1 |
5 |
3.81 |
0.840 |
0.706 |
Home telehealth reduce your expenditures on health care |
2 |
5 |
3.51 |
0.858 |
0.737 |
Telehealth has superior overall service quality |
3 |
5 |
4.25 |
0.604 |
0.365 |
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