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Project Details


Keywords: [Telecare/Telehealth]
Name: Integrating telecare systems for chronic disease management in the community: What needs to be done
Start Date: 1st Nov 06
End Date: 31st Mar 09
Total Project Fund: 597,359UK Pounds
Background: Effectively integrating new technologies and systems of practice into NHS and related services is vital to the modernisation agenda, and telecare may offer important benefits to service users, professionals, and managers. While some key advances have been achieved (for example NHS Direct) in telehealthcare, other systems have not been routinely adopted, largely because of difficulties in integrating them into existing service provision. Because telecare is cross-sectoral (involving health and social care professionals, user communities, public-private partnerships, and ranging across multiple policy frameworks and spending constituencies) and thus not restricted to specific clinical services, there is an urgent need to better understand the complex networks and organisational contexts in which these new technologies and their associated systems of practice are required to work.
Description: This study will produce new data relating to user constituencies untouched by most previous research, notably private sector manufacturers and service suppliers. It will also codify and develop the conclusions of previous research. Most importantly, however, researchers will draw on the perspectives of different constituencies to develop principles for action in deploying, implementing and integrating telecare systems, which can be utilised by managers and policy makers across the health and social care sectors.
Objective: The purpose of the study is to: identify, describe and understand those factors that promote or inhibit the implementation and integration of telecare systems for chronic disease management in the community, and to make practical recommendations for the effective resolution of implementation and integration problems in the UK. The study aims to underpin the development of workable telecare systems for people with chronic disease in the community, and develop principles for this grounded in the experiences of key stakeholders across a range of lay, professional, and private sector communities. Researchers will undertake six interlinked work-packages which aim to step beyond current research, to better understand developments across policy domains, and between different sectors of the health care economy. The project will use stakeholder groups as expert collaborators in the development of robust and policy-relevant conceptual models and principles for practice. The outcome of the study will be to define the practical requirements for successful telecare integration in NHS and related local authority and private sector services.
General Info: Project partners include Amsterdam University and Michigan State University.

Organisations Involved In This Project


The main contact(s) for this project are:

Organisation Name Type Tel Town Contact
Institute of Health and Society - Newcastle University
 Academic
 0191 222 7045
 Newcastle upon Tyne
 Prof Carl May

Participants:

Organisation Name Type Tel Town Contact
Dept of General Practice & Primary Care - University of Glasgow
 Academic
 0141 330 8330
 Glasgow
Prof Frances Mair
School of Medicine - University of Manchester
 Academic
 0161 306 0200
 Manchester
 Prof Anne Rogers

Funding for this project includes a contribution from:

Organisation Name Type Tel Town
Department of Health - Policy Research Programme (PRP)
 Government
 020 7210 4850
 London