Telephone technical support: an essential adjunct to a computer intervention for rural chronically ill women.

The purposes of this article are to describe the telephone technical support system used in the Women to Women support and health education computer outreach project for chronically ill rural women, discuss the preparation and role of the information systems specialist, and examine the nature and quality of telephone support requested and received. Telephone support records were tallied and categorized to determine the number of participants requiring assistance and the nature of problems described. The quality of telephone support received was assessed through a postintervention mail survey. About one third of participants sought telephone support, most frequently for problems related to impaired Internet service provider delivery and the university's Web-application platform. The quality of telephone support was rated highly by 96% of respondents. It was concluded that telephone technical support is a useful adjunct to a computer-based intervention and that quality support can be provided by including a competent information systems specialist on the research team.

The rural context and women's self-management of chronic health conditions.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the rural context and describe its influence on the self-management of chronic illness by women living in a rural setting. METHODS: The Women to Women (WTW) project is a research-based computer intervention that provides health education and peer support to rural women with chronic health conditions. Messages posted to the online support and health education chat rooms were examined to determine the characteristics of the rural context in relation to the women's illness self-management. RESULTS: 'Distance' was the overarching characteristic of the rural context that influenced the women's ability to self-manage their chronic health problems. The effect of distance was woven throughout each of the four predominant themes that emerged from the data as having influence - physical setting, social/cultural/economic environment, nature of women's work, and accessibility/quality of healthcare. These influences affected the women's self-management abilities both negatively and positively. DISCUSSION: The rural context profoundly influenced the ability of rural women to self-manage their chronic conditions. From the data, health professionals and policy-makers can glean information about the barriers to healthcare faced by rural women who are trying to manage their chronic health problems in comparative isolation.

Ten rural women living with fibromyalgia tell it like it is.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of the personal experiences of 10 rural women dealing with fibromyalgia based on the theoretical frameworks of adaptation to chronic illness and social support. The data were gathered from a nursing intervention that provided computer-based peer support and encouragement. The women described themes of pain, fatigue, depression, and sleep disturbances; expressed views on the experience of rural isolation; and shared positive philosophies of dealing with this disease. With this understanding, professionals and significant others can compassionately respond to the needs of sufferers of fibromyalgia.