ArticleMedical care2025
The Role of Social Support in Bridging the Digital Divide for Older Veterans.
Article in Medical care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Telehealth Barriers and Digital Ageism Experienced by Older Veterans: Formative Ethnographic Study to Inform a Telepharmacy Randomized Trial.JMIR aging · 2026Article
- Intelligent living environments and older adults' health outcomes: roles of social support and self-efficacy.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Digital health literacy among older adults in China: a cross-sectional study on prevalence and influencing factors.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Bridging communities, prevention, and heart health: U.S. strategies for CHW cardiovascular training and integration.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFor nearly a decade, the US Veterans Health Administration (VA) has distributed tablets to Veterans with access barriers who may benefit from video telehealth visits. Older Veterans' lower likelihood of tablet use relative to younger Veterans has prompted interest in factors influencing tablet utilization.
objectivesWe examined whether social support facilitates video telehealth utilization among older Veterans who received VA tablets. RESEARCH
designWe performed a cross-sectional analysis of electronic health record-linked survey data. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the relationship between social support and telehealth use, controlling for predisposing, enabling, and health factors. SUBJECTS: Veterans aged ≥65 who received a VA-issued tablet and responded to a national survey (September 2021 to January 2022) (n=859). MEASURES: The outcome measure was any VA video telehealth use in the 6 months post-tablet receipt. Social support measures included tangible support, living with others, and marital status.
resultsFewer than two-thirds of respondents (62.4%) had a video visit in the 6 months post-tablet receipt. In all, 32.2% of respondents noted that the absence of family or friends to help with video visits hindered their use of video telehealth. In multivariable analyses, greater tangible social support was associated with 54.1% (95% CI: 10.1%-116.2%) higher odds of having a video visit.
conclusionsOlder adults who receive technological devices to engage in video telehealth benefit from tangible social support from family and friends. Assessing and addressing patients' social and environmental circumstances may help optimize digital divide interventions and ensure that older adults are not excluded from telehealth-related access gains.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.