{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.026734926052332197, 'fraction_numerical': 0.011945392491467578, 'mean_word_length': 5.41970802919708, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 1, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 1, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
OLDER ADULTS’ TECHNICAL SUPPORT NEEDS FOR HOME VIDEO TELEHEALTH VISITS

With newly approved (2017) Medicare reimbursement for video telehealth (VT) visits into the home, there is the opportunity to increase the reach of clinical services to populations for whom travel to a medical center is challenging. Older adults and their caregivers are prime targets for video telehealth due to mobility challenges and other barriers to accessing care. Video telehealth offers a potentially convenient visit format option, however, technology use has been reported to be lower with older adults. We sought to determine if older adults’ relatively lower rates of technology adoption translate into increased technical support needs during Home Video Telehealth (HomeVT). We have offered medical dementia management visits via HomeVT since 2013. We have tracked both who was operating the technology in the home and what technical issues arose for each HomeVT encounter. We determined the frequency of technical difficulties requiring involvement of a telehealth technician as a function of family caregiver relationship. In 49% of the >200 HomeVT visits, the person operating the technology was the person with dementia’s (PWD) spouse, with the other 51% being the PWD’s adult child. While 35% of all HomeVT visits required the assistance of a telehealth technician (THT), the older caregivers (PWD’s spouses) required significantly more THT assistance than the younger (PWD’s adult children) caregivers (p<0.005). Older adults are able to participate in HomeVT visits but require significantly more technical support than younger users do. Availability of real-time technical support is critical for HomeVT program success, particularly when serving older adult users.