Title : Effectiveness of telehealth in facilitating treatment compliance in patients with alcohol use disorder
Abstract:
Alcoholism is a common health problem in the United States and the World. Alcoholism is associated with chronic illness, including liver cirrhosis, gastric cancer, and motor vehicle crash. Despite these grim statistics and the availability of effective treatment, fewer persons with alcohol use disorder have sought treatment. There are many reasons for low alcohol treatment, including the stigma associated with alcoholism, fewer treatment facilities and providers, transportation hassles, inflexible work schedules, and lack of childcare. The success seen in Telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic has opened the door for mass adoption of Telehealth to deliver care beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper evaluated Telehealth's effectiveness in facilitating treatment compliance in persons (s) with alcohol use disorder. A literature search in PubMed and a Smart search in the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Science library were conducted. Ten studies that discussed substance use, alcohol use, and Telehealth were selected. A literature review was conducted on the ten studies with inclusion and exclusion criteria. All ten studies found that Telehealth or remote-delivered care was valuable as an alternative delivery model due to its convenience and ability to reach a broad population. It was also credited with the potential for healthcare cost reduction. Despite these promising outcomes on its potential, the lack of head-to-head comparison studies between Telehealth and traditional in-person care necessitates further exploration and study to determine which care delivery model is superior.
Keywords: Telehealth, Remote delivered treatment, Alcohol use disorder, substance use disorder, scholarly work
