The Lived Experience of Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Rural Areas: Phenomenological Study.
Vincenzo Bosco, Caterina Mercuri, Patrizia Doldo and 6 others
PMID 39928987WHAT IT FOUND
Rural Italian adults with inflammatory bowel disease described worry, travel costs and stigma from distance to specialist care.
They described feeling less isolated when their care team responded promptly to phone, email or other remote contact.
Key findings
01Participants described living far from specialist care as causing worry about timely access and added travel costs that affected their families.
02Participants described loneliness and stigma in small rural communities because people did not understand their illness.
03Participants described responsive contact with the care team, including nurses, as making them feel less alone.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only 17 adults from rural areas linked to one hospital in Italy, so it may not apply to other countries, urban areas or different healthcare systems. Participants were recruited purposively and by convenience, and all had to understand Italian, live in rural inland areas and have confirmed IBD, so experiences of people with other language needs, urban residence, severe cognitive impairment, cancer or organ failure are not represented. The paper says telehealth was only tangentially mentioned and not explored in depth, so it cannot support claims that telehealth improves care. The findings are interview themes about lived experience, not measurements of disease activity or treatment effects.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that telehealth improves outcomes. The authors say telehealth was only tangentially mentioned and not explored in depth, and they do not recommend expanding it.