Menopause care delivery in the time of COVID-19: evaluating the acceptability of telehealth services for women with early and usual age menopause.
Climacteric
; : 1-13, 2022 Oct 24.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2232090
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
This study aimed to explore women's and clinician's experiences and acceptability of telehealth use within a specialized multidisciplinary menopause service during the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
In-depth qualitative semi-structured interviews were analyzed via thematic inductive approaches. Telehealth acceptability was guided by the Nonadoption, Abandonment, and Challenges to the Scale-Up, Spread, and Sustainability of Health and Care Technologies (NASSS) framework.RESULTS:
A heterogeneous group of 18 women who had attended the menopause service and six clinicians (gynecologists and endocrinologists) were interviewed. The majority of women and clinicians perceived telehealth as an acceptable way to deliver menopause care. Benefits of telehealth delivery were identified; themes centered around convenience, greater access to care and improved safety. Telehealth challenges included perceived impacts on personalized quality of care, patient-related logistical issues and system/organizational-related issues. A hybrid flexible delivery model combining telehealth and face-to-face care was recommended, following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. Improvements to support embedding and adaptation of telehealth into routine care were described.CONCLUSION:
In this study, telehealth was viewed as acceptable, supporting the ongoing delivery of a hybrid service model of telehealth and face-to-face menopause care. The findings provide valuable information to improve the menopause service to meet the needs of women during the ongoing current pandemic and beyond.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Qualitative research
Language:
English
Journal:
Climacteric
Journal subject:
Gynecology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
13697137.2022.2127351
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