Viewpoints of Healthcare Professionals on Care Delivery Within the Frames of Old-Age Mental Telehealth Services Operating in Low-Resource Settings
<b>Background/Objectives:</b> The INTegRated InterveNtion of pSychogerIatric Care (INTRINSIC) network introduces an innovative model of psychogeriatric care, combining tertiary mental healthcare with primary care for older adults in low-resource settings in Greece via telemedicine. This study explores viewpoints of healthcare professionals on care delivery within the frames of old-age mental telehealth services in low-resource settings. <b>Methods:</b> All healthcare professionals, including 13 medical and 11 non-medical professionals from diverse healthcare units in urban, rural, and insular areas, participated in a semi-structured survey. Thematic analysis identified key insights. <b>Results:</b> Most participants (<i>N</i> = 19) highlighted the high usability of the INTRINSIC services and their high satisfaction for being members of the network (<i>N</i> = 17) was attributed to the collaborative delivery of integrated, specialized healthcare services in primary healthcare (<i>N</i> = 17). Further identified advantages of the services included the positive impact on timely care delivery (<i>N</i> = 6), cost effectiveness, and alleviation of hospital strain. Healthcare professionals valued the holistic approach of the INTRINSIC services to psychogeriatric care (<i>N</i> = 8) and their role in the improvement of it in communities in low-resource settings (<i>N</i> = 13). However, challenges were also reported, including the low openness and reluctance of service users (<i>N</i> = 7), difficulties in using the INTRINSIC digital platform (<i>N</i> = 5), and increased workload (<i>N</i> = 5). <b>Conclusions:</b> Despite these issues, the INTRINSIC services embody an innovative telehealth model for delivering high-quality, tertiary, mental, and cognitive healthcare services to older adults in underserved areas.
Authors
- Maria Alexaki
- Iοannis Laliotis
- Sandro Sideri
- Maria Passa
- Panagiotis Alexopoulos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9047-6365)
- Apostolos Εfkarpidis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1828-9650)
- Theofanis Vorvolakos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0340-2278)
- Anna Petrou
- Evaggelia Kontogianni
- Antonios M. Politis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0261-7517)
- Emily Adrion (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5592-2270)
- Vassiliki Naziri
- Kalliopi Savvopoulou
- Vasileios Stamos
- Eleutheria Aggeletaki
- Maria Gkampra
- Maria Delatola
- Antonis Delatolas
- Eleni Konidari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2529-0069)
- Gregorios Alokrios
- Paraskevi Soukouli
- Costas Tsibanis
Institutions
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Democritus University of Thrace (GR)
- University of Patras (GR)
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
- Trinity College Dublin (IE)
- TUM Klinikum (DE)
- Eginition Hospital (GR)
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Brain Sciences
- Published
- 2025-06-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15070698
- Primary Topic
- Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- European Commission