A literature review of Patients and Families experiences with video telehealth in rural/remote communities in Northern Canada.

Rahul Raj
Student id # 100806429
Course director: Diane Duff
George Brown College, Toronto, Ontario

Date of submission: March 02, 2012

Introduction
The literature review critically valuates the families’ experiences with video telehealth in rural communities in Northern Canada. Many electronic health care research projects have tested the video teleconferencing in Northern Canada. Diverse methods were tested for patients and families residing in the rural and remote communities. This issue will be structured, reassessed and abridged from the review of research studies conducted by
(2006) have provided a concise preface to the use of video telehealth as a method of health care delivery in rural/remote communities in Northern Canada. They have mentioned about its magnitude in terms of cost effectiveness, less burden to geriatric patients, clinical decision making and clinical outcomes. Although the author has given a good background of the topic it would have been better if it was a little elaborate. Besides, there were no references to previous findings in the literature provided in the introduction of the article. There are a variety of problems with the “Video Telehealth” research. First, most of the research has investigated settings where preservative health care is being administered; however, little attention has been paid to contexts where there are deteriorative health conditions. The “Video Telehealth” shows great promise to improve health care in the rural and remote communities, the review needs to establish the advantages and best practices for this technology in deteriorative health care. Secondly, the article has not been able to bond the application of “Video Telehealth” technology to effective cost-savings. The claim is often made that the technology will decrease the healthcare costs by reduction in travel and hospital admission fees, but research has not been able to provide clear evidence of this claim. Thirdly, the article has poor research synchronization with a lot of replication of