Tele Health And Tele Care Health Health And Social Care Essay

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Telehealth and Telecare are both advocated as a means of delivering social health
and services effectively and economically in peoples home. By using these two
technologies, monitoring activities and safety, providing virtual home visiting, and
activating reminder system can be done quickly. Therefore, most of the consumers
are elderly people .This paper compares Telehealth and Telecare technologies and
highlights the popularity of each technology. The literature review of the paper has
focused on defining each technology and looking to the users satisfaction from each
technology. The SWOT analysis has been used to demonstrate the strength,
weakness, opportunities and threats of each technology. To find the popularity of
each technology some questionnaire forms has been used which distributed between
40 elderly people of Toronto by random. The results show that people between ages
66-75 are the highest consumers of telehealth and telecare and more satisfied. The
overall analysis showed that telecare satisfaction percentage is higher than telehealth
satisfaction percentage however it is recommended for more advertisement for
telecare products due to facing lots of people who were unfamiliar with telecare
products. Future recommended research is an investigation on elderly and telehealth
and telecare technology and focusing on telecare and telehealth interactions and
requirements.
INTRODUCTION
1.1- Introduction
During the past few years there have been growths in possibilities of technical
developments in smart environments. Developing the life quality for young, elderly
and disabled people has become more and more vital task for todays societies all
around the world.
What is a smart home? According to the (Smart home, 2009)
The terms smart homes, intelligent homes, home networking have been used for
more than a decade to introduce the concept of networking devices and equipment in
the house. According to the Smart Homes Association the best definition of smart

home technology is: the integration of technology and services through home
networking for a better quality of living Other terms that are related to smart homes
are aware house changeable home, attentive house and ambient intelligence These
terms are used to emphasize that the home environment should be able to respond
and modify itself continuously according to its diverse residents and their changeable
needs
According to (Allen, 2001) Assistive technologies (AT) which can be known as a
branch of Smart homes is applied to any kind of system or device, which has been
designed to help disabled or elderly to overcome their individual disabilities. In other
word Assistive technologies are broad range of devices and services that are designed
to increase the functional abilities of disabled people. Assistive technology enables
disabled and elderly people to become independent and participate more actively in
their daily life.
Telecare and Telehealth are two effective extensions of smart home technology as the
concern is to use of technology to monitor the health of the users. Both telecare and
telehealth systems rely on telephone lines or broadband internet as means of
transferring information from the source which can be house to the receiver who
maybe a doctor or a nurse.
1.2 -Background
Telehealth, which is a part of information and communication technologies
introduced for delivering health care services and it is considered as a way to answer
lots of essential changing in healthcare systems in current years. Many of telehealth
projects are taking place to targeting countryside and remote the population. So far,
different kinds of telehealth applications have been implemented in developing
countries and have shown the outcomes. However telehealth technologies have
increased the availability of technology and telecommunication around the world.
As (Gagnon et al , 2006) argue in their research, the execution of telehealth still faces
major barriers, typically barriers related to structural, organizational and finally
professional imperatives. Furthermore the structural barriers related to licensure,
information technology developments and settlement of telehealth. Also, issues
about health care organizations are also important to ensure the telehealth adoption.
More over the adoption of telehealth technology by an individual is considered to be
difficult which is determined by a large set of physical factors.

According to (Perry et al, 2009) Telecare also is a part of telecommunication and

technology which can provide care and support people in their homes. There are
three kinds of people who can benefit most from telecare service, elderly people,
disabled and those with mobility impairments. The use of this technology is
determined to reduce the inappropriate or unnecessary admissions to the hospital
especially for falls or any kind of accidents at home.
To increase the benefits of telecare, it is necessary to know the opinion of the users
about this technology. As (Crump, 2010) discusses, telecare services provide
opportunities for technology to replace people in some roles. Although it is a rapid
and effective technology
for supporting services but it is necessary to have some training before using this
technology. In other word this technology can be useful only if you know how to use
it correctly otherwise it could be harmful.
According to Nation health executive (NHE, 2006), by increasing an ageing
population and prevalence of chronic disease a challenge for the management and
integration of health care is growing. The need for new care models and new
technologies for long term illness is more visible and clinical partnerships and
networks supports the care strategies within home Environment.
Therefore emerging telecare and telehealth have the potential to enable long term
medical care in peoples own homes.
Many studies indicate that telecare and telehealth technology has a positive effect on
the clinical outcomes, user independencies, reduction in emergency visits and lower
admission to hospital.

However there is a lack of evidence to execute that these two technologies are cost
effective-whilst there is a belief about assistive technologies exists that they should
help to reduce costs in long terms and supports for faced problems.
1.3- Research
The main focus of this research is to comparing telecare and telehealth and their
consequences in medical business. The aim of this paper is to find out the popularity

of these two technologies between elderly and finding their good and bad
consequences on people, society and business.
According to ( Sixsmith ,2000)
Many people in the field trial reported enhanced feelings of safety and security,
which could help to stimulate independence and help them to remain living in their
own homes The monitoring system increased the care choices available to elderly
people and supported and enhanced the cares role
Technical perspective of telehealth and telecare concerns the use and development of
ICT based systems. The marketplace of these technologies continues to see rapid
developments. Therefore telecare and telehealth can make a real difference to the
lives of elderly and disabled people.
In this research the author is going to define telehealth and telecare separately and
talking about the advantages and disadvantages of each of these two technologies as
well as cost analysis of them due to the several studies over the years executes that
these two systems achieved a considerable cost saving. Furthermore telecare and
telehealth satisfaction is going to evaluate.
1.4- Research Aim and objectives
The major significance of this study is to probe deeply in to the comments and
analysis of several authors conducting their research in the subject of telecare and
telehealth, to identify evidence of advantage or flaws and weaknesses that may or
may not exist in the present exploitation of the services and related devices
technology as well as evaluating the comments of elderly about telecare and
telehealth, and finally evaluating the telecare and telehealth satisfaction between
elderly. Therefore, the major objectives of these investigations are:
* To provide necessary response to questions arising from the comparisons between
telecare and telehealth.
* To evaluate the popularity of telecare and telehealth between elderly and possible
flow that may or may not exist in the present use of telecare and telehealth
* To criticize and analyze the results.
* To make some recommendation for future development of telecare and telehealth

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Telecare and Telehealth ; as a part of the collection smart home play a major role in
the comfort and quality of life of all people. This role is even more important when
these technologies and services are contributed to a special group called elderly.
(BBC news, 2008) produces program about chronic disease patients and elderly to
use telehealth and telecare products at home and monitor their health by mobile
phones. As declared in (BBC , 2008)
Patients with high blood pressure and chronic lung disease will be initially recruited
to test new technology that allows them to measure their blood pressure,and oxygen
levels at homeThe readings will be sent via mobile phone into a central computer and
collated into an online health record that can be accessed by both the patient and
their GP.
As BBC announced ; it is expected that project of telehealth and telecare to be
expanded between 1500 patients by 2012. However the question is that how well do
elderly people know these products?
2.2 -What is meant by Telehealth?
As American (telecare, 2009) argues
Telehealth is a revolutionary medical tool that affordably expands and improves
health care services for patients regardless of age, race, gender or economic status
Generally Elderly patients living in remote areas and individuals suffering from a
chronic disease are best suited for telehealth services
In another word telehealth plays an integral role in the management of long-term
conditions.
As healthcare professionals begin their health services from pilot to mainstream
provision your telehealth partner must help you step by step to go through the
transition. These services are usually provided when a Tunstall telehealth projects is
started. Tunstall is a founder member of the continua health Alliance. Their policy of
ongoing development means that products specification and appearance could
change without prior notice.

In general, telehealth is general term that includes many various activities. Many of
components of telehealth integrated have been presented in the Telehealth Pyramid
(figure 2.1).
Figure 2.2.1 The Telehealth pyramid, ( Elford , 2004)
Although all parts of the pyramid should be coordinated to gain the best result, each
section could exist independently. On the basis of past successful telehealth
experience, the components of telehealth should be placed in one physical center. In
Figure 2.2.1 which has illustrated Telehealth levels in Health care system of USA,
various parts of the pyramid will be delineated from the bottom to top. The size of
each section could hardly present the number of people involved.
The base section is 1-800 health call center. This center is active day and night for 24
hours, 7 days a week. The staff working in this section includes: health professionals,
for most parts nurses. When clients call in , the staff would respond major health
questions, assist patients with minor health problems and if needed guide the patient
to the proper healthcare resource.
The next layer (Medical Data and Telemetry call center). Has been set up similar to 1800 call center, however in spite of receiving telephone calls, would also receive
telemetry and medical information such as: blood pressure, EKG, Blood sugar and
other types of blood chemistry, weight and pulmonary function test. This
information could be sent on a daily basis or upon urgent request.
The next section, Internet Health Information and Education provides health
information websites for healthcare professional and patients. The patients website
includes information on different topics, response to common health questions to
choice of e-mailing a health professional on a special health problem, chatting with
groups for the patients with special conditions. The health professional website has
more complete information for various health conditions and provides access to the
health education endeavors.
The Tele-education layer is using all the telecommunication technologies and
information to provide health education for both patient and health professionals.
Some of the website functions of the former level could be used in this section.
According to (Elford ,2004) The next layer includes Teleconsultation, Telenursing
and Telehome care.

Teleconsultation is defined as the provision of any medical services occurring

between physician and patient such as: Telepsychiatry, Teledermotology, and Tele
ENT
All activities mentioned involve a health professional providing a health service a
patient.
Finally the last layer of pyramid (administrative center, research unit and training
center) includes a number of key components that are crucial for the proper
operation and long term maintenance of the telehealth. This center would manage
and coordinate the following endeavors: a research unit will help in the design
implementation and evaluation of telehealth project s and could also be involve d in
technical test projects or evaluation. At last, a curriculum in Telehealth and a place
for hands on training could be providing for the students.
( Elford ,2004) believes that Professionals (physicians, nurses, technicians) can also
take non-credit courses could also take non-credit courses for education or training.
Some organizations such as (Department of National Defense) contracting the
training center, could provide health training to their personnel.
Whilst the telehealth pyramid of NHS (national health center) , which belongs to the
UK , shows using telehealth at three levels. Looking through the pyramid from
bottom to top will show that 70 -80 % of the population are supported self-care
which is possible by web based- tools, and self monitoring.
At the second level which is high risk disease, some home monitoring is possible but
the availability of doctors and nurses are necessary at this case.
And finally at the third level of the NHS telehealth pyramid , because of the highly
complex case management , home monitoring of patient, using assistive technology
and computerized decision support system can be using all together.
Figure 2.2.2 , NHS Pyramid , (Procter , Azarmina , 2007)
Telehealth can connect people with one another and by various health organizations
as follow:
* Wireless mobile devices

According to (Hinz ,2010), wireless mobile devices in this study will only be utilized
in the context of healthcare. these devices include: consumer mobile phones, medical
devices that work in the next generation of consumer mobile
phone, and medical devices operates within a home premise and can transmit
information through land-line , mobile phone or internet.
* Basic mobile phones
According to Hinz ,(2010) over the last ten years, the most accepted technology in
day to day communication is the mobile phone. Even the most outdated mobile
phone can make and receive both calls and text-messages .text messages and
specially 3G mobile internets is a suitable media for the health system when we try to
connect to patients. Also the appointment reminder alert is a very valuable tool.
* Remote care clinical devices
(Remote medical care, 2010) argues that In relation to vital signs, medical devices
are different in size and complexity and the interaction with ill people. Many of these
medical devices have software that could operate as a PC and mobile phone. High
performance semiconductor chips which are highly integrated will expand personal
medical devices. Whether these devices are a blood glucose meter, digital blood
pressure meter, blood gas meter, digital plus/heart rate monitor or a digital
thermometer are five system level blocks that are common for each device:
* Power battery management
* Data processing and control
* Amplification and A/D conversation of the sensor input
* Some type of Display
* The sensor element(s) itself
These devices are controlled by a handle, which are activated by battery power and
using different biosensors and take measurements. The real performance topology of
these
blocks is quite different with the sensing, processing and information display
demands of the type of meter and the chronic condition it measures.

2.2.1 -Telehealth satisfaction

As (Ellis,2009) argued patient satisfaction influences on patients values and
expectations from telehealth services therefore by measuring telehealth satisfaction
more information and more positive and negative affect will be gained.
On the other hand according (Ellis, 2009) the researches on patients satisfaction
about quality of interactions and telehealth services are pretty low therefore there is
more requires going in depth of this topic.
According to the (Clinical evaluation, 2008) which evaluated the telehealth
satisfaction from different aspects, most of the users of telehealth were between the
ages of 65 to 80. The Pie chart in appendix 2 shows the age dividing in detail. The
overall satisfaction level with Telehealth experience shows that 85 % of the users are
very satisfied from this technology where only 15 % were satisfied and no one were
not satisfied of it. The details of users satisfaction is shown in the pie chart in
appendix 3. On the other hand the evaluation shows only 5% of people were disagree
about the cost saving of Telehealth whilst 95% were agree about the cost saving.
Appendix 4 shows the pie chart of the agreement and disagreement.
2.2.2 Consequences of Telehealth for the patients
* Immediate utilization of care specifically for the patient who live in rural
environments.
* Patients receive care and health from a distance and do not have to go to doctors
office to receive attention from their health provider.
* Early detection to reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations
* To discharge early from hospital
* Patient and family can have access to care from the comfort of their home.
* Patients anxiety is reduced.
* Increased conformity and ownership to their individual health care plan
* Old patients can stay independent rather than going in to assisted living situation
* Patients feel thesaurus to take part in their care program.

* Increased patients satisfaction in received care

In general Telehealth is a very effective tool to handle patients that need the most
care and attract the most cost, especially patients with chronic and terminal
conditions. The following patient conditions were successful with Telehealth
program:
1- Chronic disease which includes:
* HIV Aids
* Cancer
* Asthma
* Diabetes
* Congestive heart failure
2- Elderly patient cares which includes:
* Post stroke
* Therapies
* Post operative states
* Medical compliance
3- General care which includes
* High risk pregnancy
* Wound care
The Telehealth advantage for healthcare providers, administrators and institutions
are:
* It can improve quality of care and clinical outcome
* It can increase productivity for healthcare provider

* It is a cost saving method that can advance profitability and business growth
There are also some other advantages for doctors and nurses can schedule for patient
visits without leaving the office. In this way productivity of the number of patients
that can be visited per day could increase. Clinicians can expand their office
geographically. Patients can be visited regularly. Healthcare will be able to spend
more time with patients and can monitor and regulate their patients care better.
Healthcare providers have the advantage of attracting managed care contracts and
also will be able to manage cost effective service.
(Darkins and Cary, 2000) believe that since healthcare expenses are rising, providers
while maintaining good quality care and patients satisfaction .lower their costs. The
related technologies help providers to produce their own effective healthcare by
maximizing their human and capital resource.
2.3 -What is meant by Telecare?
Telecare is to monitor a patients real-time emergencies and his life style changes
from a distance in order to manage the risks associated with independent living.
Telecare is needed since:
As (Camarinha-Matos, Afsarmanesh, 2004) argue It is a highly flexible tool which
can be employed by the needs of new users. This technology can be utilized in
learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health. Telecare can contribute
to independent living and quality of life for people and their family significantly.
(Tunstall , 2007) believes that The major activity of Telecare services is to manage
Telecare assets more effective to guarantee that service remain more productive.
According to (Tunestall ,2007)
Telecare overlay has been developed to allow the effective implementation of radio
Telecare sensors into supported housing communities It enables the monitoring of
wandering and bed occupancy as well as environmental issues such as smoke, flood
and gas within a sheltered setting
(Tunstall, 2007) also argues that the telecare overlay system includes a telecare
manager unit and a radio receiver, this equipment is added to the existing
communicable vision system and enables staff using a variety of sensors receive

alarm calls. These receivers are located around scheme. When a receiver receives the
radio signals of a sensor, it will be forwarded to the communicational vision system
and then raises the alarm call on the handset carried by onsite staff. Therefore, the
onsite staff will be able to talk to the resident. The system can alternately sound on
alarm at the responding center.
According to James Buckley, the chief executive officer of Telecare times in
(Tunstall , 2007) , Telecare will make the cares able to go back to their work, will
promote these services to more number of audience, and support people who have
learning disabilities.
In another word Telecare describes any services that bring health and social care
directly to a user, generally in their homes, supported by information and
communication technology. It covers social alarms, lifestyle monitoring and
Telehealth (remote monitoring of UTIA signs) for diagnosis, assessment and
prevention. Telecare covers a wide range of equipment (detectors, monitors alarms,
pendants and etc) and also services for monitoring call centers and response.
( Camarinha-Matos , Afsarmanesh ,2004) believes that In the UK Telecare alarms
acts as a mediator through call center, however in the US you are able to purchase
devices that connects directly to emergency response services.
The sample lists of Telecare devices are include:
* Safety confirmation phones
* Movement /non-movement sensors
* Fire/smoke alarms
* Food / water alarms
* Window/door sensor
* Bed/ chair occupancy sensor
* Falls sensor
* Wrist worn wellbeing monitors
* Automatic lighting sensor

* Carbon monoxide sensor

* Temperature range sensor
* Medication reminder sensor
1- Devices for predicting problem:
This prediction depends on software that receives signals from sensor and analyses
the frequency and severity of monitored event such as minor falls.
2- Devices that reduce the chance if problems occurring:
For example a bad sensor can prevent falls by turning a light on when a person gets
out of bed. This helps because does not need to move around and search for the light
switch in the dark room. if the person does not return to bed it can raise an alarm. If
the helps received quickly, problems do not rise.
3- Devices that mitigate harm
These devices send an alert signal to a call center, therefore, a help can arrive quickly
before harm is done .an extreme temperature device is activated when the
temperature rises quickly or reaches a low point .
4- Personal safety confirmation:
(Camarinha-Matos , Afsarmanesh ,2004) argues that The owner of this phone based
device pushes a bottom on an agreed time everyday to inform the call center that
they are well and alive. This considered as an alternative for independent people who
are not interested in wearing a pendant alarm button or those who may fall and
become unconscious and cannot pull an alert themselves.
2.3.1- Telecare satisfaction
There were two types of telecare units that were developed. One of them is based on
pc setup and video conferencing and another one off- the- shelf video conferencing
units. According to (Guillen et al , 2002) there is high satisfaction for the patients
who used telecare devices also the medical staff were satisfied due to the
improvement in quality of health services.

The result of their research shows that medical staffs believe that telecare system is a
trustworthy system for patients and there is low risk for patients while using telecare
system. However there are more researches needs to be done in this area because of
the short duration of previous experiments.
2.3.2-Consequences of Telecare
* It can help to maintain independence for people
* Safety and confidence could be increased
* It could support careers along with traditional healthcare support and housing
initiatives.
* It could ease the transfer from traditional models of residential care to supporting
people at home. The pressure on the NHS can be reduced the environmental risks
such as fire, flooding, carbon monoxide , natural gas , high and low temperatures and
personal risks such as wandering , falling , inactivity , burglary , bogus callers and
many more could protect users. (Camarinha-Matos , Afsarmanesh ,2004)
* According to the (department of health ,2010) Telecare could prevent 160.000
people from entering residential care per year, indicating potential cost saving of 20
Billion pound .
2.4 -Comparison of Telecare and Telehealth
A high increment in the cost of care or nursing homes is the main reason of inventing
new methods of supporting people in their homes. Since according to (Doughty et al ,
2007,p.6) the dependency ratio which is defined as( number of working people to
those who are retired) is about to fall from 4:1 to 2.1:1 in the next 40 years, so the
demands for the care services will increase and services that are based on
technologies can replace.
(According to Doughty et al ,2007, p.7)
The term telecare was selected to cover all electronic technologies of a preventive or
supportive nature because it had the necessary buzz and because it implied a
modular approach and a need for a developing telecommunications infrastructure
As (Doughty et al, 2007, p.7) argued

Although the fundamental purpose of the technology is to avoid unscheduled care

incidents and, in particular, the management of long-term conditions, it can support
Independence because it is capable of overcoming the need for people to move
prematurely into a nursing home environment Such technology would appear to be a
medical application of telecare, which would be consistent with the new definition of
telecare described above... However, remote and regular (but not continuous) vital
signs monitoring may be fundamentally different to existing UK telecare systems
because the purpose is to collect data rather than offer an automated alarm
Whilst in the USA, the remote vital signs monitoring system are known as telehealth.
The term of telehealth in the Europe has been the Umbrella term which is used for
grate range of technologies which includes telemedicine as well.
The telehealth and telecare umbrella model will show the alternatives for adoption or
rejection.
As the figure 2.4.1 shows there are three components of telehealth exist which shows
a growing range of assistive technologies. Also there are some disabled facilities has
covered .covering number of comparatively expensive fixed assistive technologies
like level access showers can be known as effective versions. However consequent
removal while the service user moves on is more difficult with the result that the
venture is left in the property. This means that following architects to follow the
lifetime homes and using free access for the standards is necessary. Telehealth
somehow has higher weight than telecare because health is necessary for everyone
but maybe not everyone need care.
Figure 2.4.1 Telehealth Umbrella model (Doughty et al ,2007, p.9)
As figure 2.4.2 shows telecare is term which is used for all defensive technologies
which are using electronics, telecommunication and information system. Thats why
they can cover some applications such as alarms through monitoring the vital signs
either in the home or on the move thus when a term such as Telehealth covers all
forms of information and medical monitoring then the advanced form which is
telecare could be expanded from environmental to medical areas. In another word
According to (Doughty et al ,2007,p.8)
the use of community / social alarm system to support independent living as a form
of telecare was both a consequence of change in community care but also it produced
a valuable service that did not have doctors and nurses as the gatekeeper

Figure 2.4.2 umbrella model of telecare (Doughty et al ,2007,p.9)

2.5 -Impact of telecare and telehealth on cost saving
There are lots of comparative studies in telehealth and telecare which demonstrate
the economic benefits of these technologies. These studies show that improved
access to suitable healthcare services, increased patients satisfaction and cost
savings. Many of pre- reviewed researches consistent in finding that telehealth and
telecare saves the patients, providers and payers money in compare of traditional
healthcare system.
According to (Jennett et al, 2003), Cost saving of telehealth services can be done by
reduction in use of hospitals, nursing home services and transport costs. In other
word reduction in transporting patients to emergency departments and therefore to
physician offices will cause a reduction in cost of emergency department visits.
4.5- SWOT Analysis
Since in primary data , the author couldnt noticed the presented data completely
relevant to the research questions and couldnt answer all the objectives of the
research therefore she decided to do the SWOT analysis .SWOT Analysis is a kind of
evaluation by defining the Strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of the
defined subject.
4.5.1- Telehealth SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis of telehealth is focusing on what the strength of the telehealth
are, what can be known as the weaknesses, what opportunities telehealth has and
finally what are the threats of this technology.
4.5.1.1 -Strength
Telehealth has brought jointly a transdisciplinary range between public and private
stakeholders in the IT, Networking, healthcare providers and telehealth domains.
The strength of telehealth is in its ability to overcome with uncertainty. In other word
when telehealth is being used, reduction in problem solving of uncertainty concerns.
Telehealth is cost and time effective and it would be beneficial for elderly people to
become independent.

4.5.1.2 -Weakness
The different rang of languages and cultures may cause confusion to set-up and
utilization of Telehealth products more complex and thus expensive; in another
word, lack of information regarding the using instructions may cause problem for the
users.
Telehealth products do not have ongoing programs for the efficiency of their
products and services.
4.5.1.3- Opportunities
People have raised their expectation through receiving quick and more dependable
services from telehealth services.
It is true that E- health is still in a fancy manner but new opportunities for telehealth
are opening up to become more developed and high bandwidth communications with
higher sensor technologies. Also Improvement in access to telehealth services
especially in rural settings is necessary. Making available some communication
support and rising new information and communication technologies also creating a
platform for enhanced emergency response for national and local disasters.
4.5.1.4 -Threats
There is a high risk for stakeholders that their products or projects might drop out
and face failure because of low interests of people. Also many long-standing
unknowns with admiration to service providers and health care providers.
4.5.2 -Telecare SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis of telecare is identifying the Strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of telecare technology.
4.5.2.1- Strengths
It is obvious that large group of people accepted that the elderly and disabled will
take advantage from these services and the main reason could be the less visits to
healthcare professionals and able to live on their own feet. Most of the recent
empirical researches show that elderly people have a good relation with these
technologies as long as it enables them to live safe, independent and comfortable.

Telecare services balance and strengthen the human features of the clinician patient
communications.
4.5.2.2- Weaknesses
Many of the applications of telecare are only usable by computer users and other
users which called normal users are not clearly adopted this technology. Also there
the awareness of end users about the potential benefits that telecare has is limited
and finally still there is gap between the potentials that offered by telecare services
and willingness of those patients who accept such technological changes.
4.5.2.3 -Opportunities
Some smaller hospitals or care centers might expand their facilities and services and
offer new methods of treatment which they were not able to offer them previously.
The brand new internet protocols are expected to provide faster links with numerous
addresses which allowing each individual device such as patient health monitors to
control individually.
4.5.2.4 -Threats
There are some probable users of telecare services might reject them because of some
feelings they receive such as their lives are being controlled. Even though this group
may be small but there are some potential worries for breaking their privacy. Also for
healthcare specialists, the large scale use of telecare technology will ask a movement
in their organizational structure, which may be resisted.
CONCLUSION
The aim of this research has been to compare the Telehealth and Telecare technology
and finding out the popularity of each technology between elderly of Toronto. To do
so, we have reviewed the Telehealth and Telecare technology and advantages and
disadvantages of each. Then to find out the popularity of each technology she made
questionnaire form and prepared the questions according to the reviewed theories.
Therefore, through analysis of Telecare and telehealth, we have examined the
popularity of these two technologies and gained some interesting results.
To this end, based on the research findings and analysis, we are going to make
conclusion and recommendations through Telehealth and Telecare.

In the last decade we have noticed that hospital waiting lists and severity for
hospitalization of the elderly and chronically ill patients has been rising significantly.
Long term condition patients usually do not take their medication properly and do
not consult with their GP provider frequently.
The general condition of the world economy indicates that, presently the largest
economies are in recession and the rising cost of healthcare is unavoidable in many
countries. In common wealth countries, the traditional method of direct healthcare
are rising in demand due to the prevailing recession.
National and international trends indicates that there is a need to provide quality
care for the patients in their home while encouraging them to be informed of their
own symptoms in managing their chronic illnesses. This can be reached through
mobile phones and wireless based smart home devices. Telehealth based wireless
devices have proven to be effective in managing and monitoring long term conditions
such as Blood Pressure, Diabetes and Heart Disease in reducing hospitalization and
emergency care business cases.
In the literature review the author has argued that Telehealth technology is allowing
health organizations to do more for patients with less and support higher patients
therefore this phenomenon is useful to improve health outcomes and guarantee the
best use of healthcare resources. With Telehealth everybody in the care business is a
winner including hospitals, GPs, community providers and patients.
Telehealth and Telecare has not been generalized and practiced on a large scale in
our societies. In fact, telehealth and telecare is only limited to a few industrialized
country throughout the world. These technologies and services are not even used or
practiced in many undeveloped or developing countries due to some political reason,
forbidding the use of high speed broadband internet. The author thinks that still
there is long way ahead of those who are involved to promote these technologies and
services. However, in the countries those have high speed internet available,
institutions or organizations working with housing, health and social care, when they
are planning, commissioning and delivering these services can make the best use of
Telecare and Telehealth.
Finding and analysis of the literature shows that telecare and telehealth are both
some types of helping technology that can provide health and social services remotely
to the needy people in their home , but these two assistive technologies are very
different in their usage and definitions.

Using SWOT analysis to precede the processes of analysis and a way to gain the
objectives of research by describing the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and
Threats of Telecare and Telehealth products was a useful way for comparing these
two technologies.
The results of SWOT analysis shows that both telehealth and telecare are cost
effective and the main reason is because of reduction of participation at hospitals.
There is a lack of information for the users about the instructions of telehealth and
telecare in other word they are somehow complex for elderly ,on the other hand some
of the telecare products are usable only by computer users and this kind of users are
the lowest group of elderly. Rising communication support and more information
about these two technology would be helpful for the future of them however it is
necessary to be careful about the probability of rejection of these two technology due
to the complexity or unheard of them .
On the other hand by the result of the questionnaires that handed in 40 elderly of
Toronto, the popularity of telecare and telehealth is compared. The result shows that
old people who are in the age of 66-75 are more satisfied from telehealth and telecare
than others on the other hand although people are more familiar with telehealth
products and uses them due to their chronic diseases, however it has less popularity
than telecare products in other word telecare satisfaction percentage is higher than
telehealth satisfaction percentage. Telecare products are unknown for a large number
of elderly and the main reason may because these products are not for specific
disease and all kind of elderly be able to be the user of this products therefore any
specific disease will not force them to use of telecare products, however those who
have used them are fully satisfied from them.
6.3 Recommendation
The ongoing recommendation are based upon the findings of this study and the
researchers previous experiences in the field of Information Technology (IT) .it is
considered that the following recommendations would make some contributions to
the very important broad area in which the present study was contributed.
In many instances telehealth operates independently form telecare and there is no
relation between these two services and the used systems. This means that we are
gathering two sets of information concerning a person but this information is not
shared, therefore, the patient profile is incomplete and we are duplicating the work.
Therefore it is recommended to combine social care data with health information to

have a more entire patients data. Long- term condition patients could take advantage
of telecare devices such as fall detectors to allow them to live independent at home.
Since the information is kept separately on two systems, the assessment of patients
needs is neither comprehensive nor coordinated. It is therefore recommended that
complete data to be collected on one system instead of two.
Due to the existing recession in many countries that practice telecare and telehealth
we know that their budget is limited or cut these days the fore the author
recommends for an ongoing efficiency program of their products and services. Maybe
we are not using the right technology in healthcare. We should continuously evaluate
the pilot system and test all elements of client record from both telehealth and
telecare point of view.
Although it has been stated that telehealth and telecare systems are financially sound
and feasible solution for health administrators and providers by enabling patients
and clinicians to have one-to-one audio and video contact, it can reduce the number
of in-home visits and increase staff efficiency, this ongoing communication between
patients and providers reduces emergency room visits and hospitalization. To help
the health system using these technologies, it is therefore recommended that private
and federal donations should appropriate especially at the time of recession to make
these systems more common. In other word the analysis of the researcher shows that
a lot of people are not familiar with telecare and telehealth product and they dont
know what the usage of those products is. As stated in the analysis part most of the
people who have diabetes are not familiar with Glucose meters therefore putting
more energy for advertise telecare and telehealth products and make these products
well-known in society is necessary.
And at last there are some recommendation in terms of benefit from quality of life,
services and efficiency of services is going to given.
1- In terms of benefits gained from quality of life:
> Hospital admission should be avoided
> Service users and patients should be informed
> In early prevention and intervention or critical times better support should be
provided.
> Families and careers of patients should be advocated

2- In terms of benefits receive from quality of service:

> Client requests should be responded faster
> Client response should be more target oriented
> Complete data should be accessed on one system instead of two
> Data should be accessed by clinicians through we based application
3- In terms of benefit obtain from efficiency of services:
> Number of face-to-face visits to clients for health and social care staff should be
decreased.
> Efficiency of data ex-change should be increased.
> Hospital admission cost should be reduced.
> Patients hospital discharge should take place as soon as possible.
> Urgent care facilities and call out to GP should be reduced.
6.4- Future research
Normally it is controversial to answer the research questions and objectives of the
research. This is might due to the various limitations confronted during the research
process. This research has employed a qualitative approach with qualitative and
quantitative result based on both secondary data and primary data. However future
research can be completely quantitative method with using interview for collecting
the information.
The author suggested that the further research focused on telehealth and telecare
interaction therefore it will be able to give a better response to patient needs.
Furthermore the future research can be focused on the requirements of telehealth
and telecare and by the result it will be able to remove the defects.