Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare > Volume 14, Number 4 > Pp. 211-214

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RESEARCH Original articles

A comparison of telehealth and face-to-face presentation for school professionals supporting students with chronic illness

Ryan J Spaulding ^* , Kathy Davis  and James Patterson 

^* Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas; Department of Pediatrics, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas; Department of Communication Studies, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA

Correspondence: Dr Ryan J Spaulding, Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth, University of Kansas Medical Center, Mail Stop 1048, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Kansas City, KS 66160, USA (Fax: +1 913 588 2227; Email: rspaulding{at}kumc.edu)

We compared the perceptions of school professionals who received education about students with chronic illness by videoconference (VC) or by face-to-face (FTF) presentation. Forty-five different one-hour presentations were provided by a paediatric educator to a total of 1389 subjects – 919 viewed FTF presentations and 417 viewed VC presentations. Subjects completed a 10-item survey to assess satisfaction and other perceptions, such as access and convenience of the sessions, on a 5-point Likert scale. The results for the two different modalities were compared using analysis of variance. Participants at the FTF presentations (mean 4.6, SD = 0.6) and VC presentations (mean 4.3, SD = 0.7) indicated that they were very satisfied with the instruction they received. The FTF participants were significantly more satisfied than the VC participants (P < 0.001). Similarly, comfort with the sessions, perceived preparedness, convenience and other items were also highly rated in both groups, although the FTF group rated many of these perceptions significantly higher. Regression analysis showed that the comfort level with the presentations was a predictor of satisfaction, suggesting that people might not be familiar enough with VC sessions to be comfortable and satisfied with this delivery mechanism. Nonetheless, VC delivery appears to be a viable alternative when FTF is not possible, particularly in rural areas.

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