Videophones for the delivery of home healthcare in oncology

Abstract

A videophone system was used to link cancer patients, undergoing chemotherapy at home, with care providers in the Home Healthcare Facility at the University Hospital Centre of Grenoble. The participant patients expressed their satisfaction both with the use and the technical quality of the system. Improvement was observed in the Hospitalisation Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), SF36 Health Survey Questionnaire and Palliative care Outpatient Scale (POS) scores during and at the end of the experiment. The results indicated that the use of videophones was both feasible and satisfactory, and that they may have a positive effect on the cancer patient's quality of life at home. Further studies are necessary to prove this final observation.