Telehealth for palliative care patients in metropolitan and rural settings.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the clinical impart of providing telehealth for palliative care patients in rural and metropolitan Victoria.

Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are an adult with a diagnosis of a life-limiting illness.

Study details If you participate in this research you will be randomly allocated either to the telehealth consultation group or the "usual" care group in which we will simply ask you to complete questionnaires which will greatly assist us to assess and compare telehealth to usual care.

The random choice is done using a dedicated computer program to ensure it is completely random.

If you are in the telehealth group then your GP/palliative care community nurse will make an appointment with the specialist palliative care doctor based at the Monash Medical Centre in Clayton for a video conference.

Our team will provide all the equipment needed for this to take place in your home. Before you begin, the specialists will already have your information, from your GP and nurse.

It is hoped that this research will provide the basis for more extensive research. The system used for the video conference is a special dedicated system is completely confidential and nothing from the consultation is stored