Deploying telehealth with sheltered housing tenants living with COPD: a qualitative case study

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report on a small telehealth pilot in local authority sheltered housing in NE England. This explored the training and capacity building needed to develop a workforce/older person, telehealth partnership and service that is integrated within existing health, social care and housing services. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative case study approach on the implementation and deployment of a pilot telehealth service, supporting sheltered housing tenants with Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n = 4). Findings - Telehealth training and capacity building, needs to develop from within the workforce/older person partnership, if a usable and acceptable telehealth service is to be developed and integrated within existing health, care and housing services. To be adaptable to changing circumstances and individual need, flexible monitoring is also required. Practical implications - Service users and workforces, need to work together to provide flexible telehealth monitoring, that in the longer term, may improve service user, quality of life. Originality/value - The pilot explored a workforce/older person partnership to consider how to add and implement telehealth services, into existing health and housing services.