Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40033257›Full record

ArticleBMC palliative care2025

Telehealth for the study of palliative care communication: opportunities, methodological challenges, and recommendations.

Elise C Tarbi, Susanna L Schuler, Natalie Ambrose, Rebecca N Hutchinson, Maija Reblin, Katharine L Cheung

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC palliative care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Elise C TarbiDepartment of Nursing, University of Vermont, 106 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA. elise.tarbi@med.uvm.edu.
Susanna L SchulerLarner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
Natalie AmbroseDepartment of Nursing, University of Vermont, 106 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA.
Rebecca N HutchinsonCenter for Interdisciplinary Population and Health Research, Mainehealth Institute for Research, Westbrook, ME, USA.
Maija ReblinDepartment of Family Medicine, Vermont Conversation Lab, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
Katharine L CheungDepartment of Family Medicine, Vermont Conversation Lab, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.

Funding

Understanding Factors Influencing COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination in Immigrant Low-income and Homeless Populations and Testing Targeted InterventionsU54GM115516 · NIGMS · MAINEHEALTH · PI CLIFFORD JAMES ROSEN · 2017 to 2026
$51.6M
NIGMS NIH HHS U54 GM115516
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWhile telehealth may offer promise for accessible, efficient palliative care delivery, leveraging telehealth technologies as an opportunity to better understand and advance the science of palliative care communication has been less well explored. Without identifying solutions to overcome challenges to conducting research in the virtual environment, we are unable to conduct the foundational work to offer evidence-based recommendations for high-quality telehealth, particularly in the context of palliative care. Our objective is to highlight methodological challenges in the use of telehealth for the study of palliative care communication and share lessons learned from using these methods.

methodsThis paper is the result of a reflective process and experience across three ongoing observational communication research studies focused on the use of telehealth during serious illness. These research datasets have been collected from multiple sites and represent rural and urban telehealth palliative care consultations for patients receiving dialysis (n = 34), patients with cancer (n = 13), and seriously ill, home-bound patients (n = 9). We illustrate challenges, insights, and recommendations with case studies from these studies.

resultsWe identify key challenges, and offer recommendations to address them, in telehealth palliative care communication research. Key insights fall within three themes: 1) addressing accessibility barriers to enrollment in telehealth research; 2) technical considerations regarding how software and hardware choices have implications for data collection and analysis; and 3) ethical considerations regarding the nuances of consent and privacy in telehealth encounters.

conclusionsOverall, our approach demonstrates possibilities for the use of telehealth to study palliative care communication and provides a "how-to" example for unique telehealth considerations from data collection through analysis. These strategies can facilitate success with large-scale health communication research studies in the telehealth context.

Indexed as

CommunicationPalliative CareTelemedicineHumansCommunicationMethodologyPalliative careTelehealthTelepalliative care

Identifiers

PMID40033257
PMCPMC11874772

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.