ArticlePalliative care and social practice2025
Remote and rural communities face inequalities in access to specialist palliative care, could telemedicine enhance care? A qualitative study of patient, carer and healthcare professionals' experiences of video consultation.
Article in Palliative care and social practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mobile Health in Home-Based Palliative Care: Realist Review of Contextual Factors and Mechanisms Influencing Outcomes.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Review
- Communication practices and experience of connection in telehealth serious illness conversations with rural cancer patients: a qualitative study.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Living in remote and rural areas is associated with worse health outcomes and poorer end-of-life care. Inequality in access to high-quality palliative care due to rurality is a worldwide problem. There is a need to evaluate potential ways, such as using telemedicine, to enhance palliative care and support patients to remain within their communities. Objective: To understand the experiences of patients, carers and specialist palliative care professionals to receive/deliver video consultations in a rural setting. Design: Qualitative semi-structured interviews with reflective thematic analysis. Methods: Patients, their informal carers (family/friend) and members of the community specialist palliative care team were invited to qualitative interview to explore their experience of using video consultations. Results: Four themes were generated including: (1) interpersonal communication, (2) enhanced provision with subthemes: physical distance and reducing travel and quick and convenient access to care, (3) flexible blended models of care and (4) organisational and practical barriers. Conclusion: In many situations, video consultations were felt to be beneficial to enable convenient and reliable access to specialist palliative care for patients living remotely. They are feasible, acceptable and practical for patients, their families and healthcare professionals. However, video consultations must be offered as an option to enhance care rather than replace in-person home visits, which are required in some situations. Further research is needed to explore how to ensure this increased accessibility is inclusive and supports disadvantaged older patients and those of lower socio-economic position.
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Registered trials
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