Acknowledge and Perception about Patient Empowerment and Telemedicine

Pages: 538-541
Anupama Vithalkumar Betigeri, Kaja Sai Ragesvari, Manya Jain, Jigyasa Gupta, Juhi Singhla, and Kadambari Harit (Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies (Deemed to be University), Manav Rachna Dental College Faculty of Dental Sciences, Faridabad, Haryana)

Patient empowerment is a process wherein individuals increase their belief that they play an important and an active role in their health care system and gain greater control over making decision related to their health and further treatment planning. It is a capacity building process. Telemedicine has the potential and capacity to bridge the distance between the unknown and the ignorant and facilitate healthcare even in the remote areas. A cross sectional survey was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and perception about Patient Empowerment and Telemedicine among undergraduate students. 150 respondents participated in the study. The respondents were provided with a self – administered questionnaire which consisted of 3 questions related to demographic details, 10 close ended questions related to knowledge, 6 questions pertaining to attitude and 3 questions related to their perception. Survey was performed with 150 students including 68.7% male participants and 31.3% female participants. The survey showed that the participants had moderate knowledge regarding the topic with an average score of 3.65/5. Almost 83.3% candidates knew the correct definition of patient empowerment. The findings of the survey showed that most of the study participants had moderate to good knowledge about patient empowerment and telemedicine but very few feel that patients should actually have some say in their own healthcare process and decision making.