Telehealth in Chronic Disease Management: Expanding Access to Public Health Services in Low-Resource Settings

Abstract

Telehealth has become an important strategy in the management of chronic diseases especially in the regions with limited access to health care facilities. By means of digital technologies, telehealth offers patients the opportunity to have a medical consultation, control, and education, thus, connecting the two main pillars of healthcare system—healthcare providers and patients in the hard-to-reach zones. This approach is especially useful for the chronic diseases which need the control and management regularly, and diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases are among them. In addition to providing a way of reaching out to people with limited access to essential healthcare services, telehealth also enhances patient outcomes through early detection and management and lightening the load of overworked health care systems. However, there are barriers to the integration of telehealth into low-resource settings, such as the challenges with technology, digital literacy, and legal requirements. This review examines the part of telehealth in the supervision and control of chronic diseases and how it may help to increase the reach of the public health services in the settings with limited resources as well as the obstacles that must be solved to gain the advantages.