Background: The utilization of telehealth has had a substantial impact on transforming and enhancing the methods by which healthcare is presently delivered. The potential benefits of telehealth in improving the health of vulnerable populations and underserved communities are substantial. The aims of this study were to examine the association between social determinants of health and patient perceptions of their experiences with telehealth. We will analyze how perceptions differ across specialization, race, gender, and other key determinants; examine how patient’s self-rated physical health and mental health influences perceptions and attitudes about telehealth utilization; and evaluate differences in perceptions and attitudes, experience with patient interactions and overall telehealth experiences between mental health providers and non-mental health providers. Methods: A scoping review was completed to explore literature regarding telehealth administration and underserved populations following the PRIMSA-ScR guidelines. Multivariable logistic regression was then conducted to assess the relationship between self-rated mental health and self-rated physical health and the primary predictor variables telehealth usability, telehealth satisfaction, and telehealth experiences. Finally, a mixed-methods study was conducted to evaluate differences in perceptions and attitudes, experience with patient interactions and overall telehealth experiences mental health-care providers and non-mental healthcare providers. Results: The scoping literature review highlights how telehealth is used in diverse settings, but more research needs to be done to determine best practices for both healthcare providers and patients utilizing telehealth. The study focused on self-reported health found significant associations between high mean scores on telehealth usability, telehealth satisfaction, and telehealth experiences and good self-reported mental and physical health. Lastly, the study looking at provider differences highlighted that the reliability of the telemedicine platform, the ability to trust the telemedicine application, and video visits being a convenient form of healthcare delivery was greater for mental healthcare providers than non-mental healthcare providers. Implications: These findings highlight the need for studies examining telehealth satisfaction, telehealth usability and telehealth experiences amongst providers and patients in underserved areas. Further research is needed to gain a deeper understanding of the telehealth access requirements of underserved communities and can aid in the development of evidence-based guidelines for the delivery of telehealth services.

Les médecins généralistes libéraux sont inégalement répartis en France depuis longtemps. Ces inégalités se renforcent au détriment d’espaces moins attractifs. Des zones avec des difficultés d’accès aux soins, urbaines et rurales, apparaissent ou s’étendent. Depuis 2008, les pouvoirs publics accompagnent financièrement les maisons de santé pluriprofessionnelles en espérant qu’elles attirent et maintiennent des médecins dans ces espaces.Cette recherche étudie dans quelle mesure l’espace et le territoire participent à l’implantation de MSP, et en retour quels sont les effets de ces structures sur les espaces et territoires concernés. L’implantation des MSP et leurs effets seront étudiées à différentes échelles géographiques à partir d’approches quantitative et qualitative. Au plan quantitatif, l’analyse spatiale des MSP utilise plusieurs outils (typologies et SIG). Ceci est complété par plusieurs terrains dans lesquels il s’agit d’étudier la place des MSP dans des régions et territoires donnés, en recueillant les témoignages des principaux acteurs concernés. Les effets des MSP sur l’offre de soins sont étudiés sur le territoire métropolitain selon une approche nationale comparant l’évolution de la densité de généralistes libéraux dans des espaces avec MSP comparativement à des espaces « similaires » sans MSP. La conduite de terrains dans deux régions vient compléter et discuter les résultats.Mots clés : espace défavorisé, espace fragile, espace rural, évaluation de politiques publiques, géographie de la santé, maisons de santé pluriprofessionnelles (MSP), soins de premiers recours, médecins généralistes libéraux. / France faces an old and persistent problem, which is geographical imbalance of general practitioners. This uneven distribution grows at a steady pace due to less attractive areas. New urban and rural areas are emerging with limited access to primary health care, while existing ones grow even bigger. Since 2008, the liberal primary care team (PCT) are financially supported by the public authorities. They hope this structure will attract and retain general practitioner in the aforementioned areas.This study aims to explore how the space and the territory contribute to the localisation of PCT and how these structures affect spaces and territories. Localisation and impact of PCT are studied at different level, using quantitative and qualitative approaches. Spatial analysis of PCT is based on several tools such as SIG and typology in synergy with field investigation in two French regions. Effects of PCT on general practitioner density are studied on a national scale comparing the evolution of this density in space with PCT and similar space without PCT. The results are completed with field investigation.

This project was an assessment of elderly health care needs and access. Three urban San Bernardino communities in zip codes 92405, 92410, and 92411 were targeted. The assessment was structured according to King's theoretical construction of community as a multilevel interaction between personal, interpersonal and social systems. The components of the assessment included digital photographs, web-based internet assessments, key informant interviews, and community business visits.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Oral health is crucial to overall health and a focus of the U.S. Health Center program, which provides preventive dental services in medically underserved communities. Dental hygiene is an oral health profession whose practice is focused on dental disease prevention and oral health promotion. Variations in the practice and regulation of dental hygiene has been demonstrated to influence access to dental care at a state level; restrictive policies are associated lower rates of access to care. Understanding whether and to what extent policy variations affect availability and access to dental care and the oral health of medically underserved communities served by grantees of the U.S. Health Center program is the focus of this study. This longitudinal study examines dental service utilization at 1,135 health center grantees that received community health center funding from 2004 to 2011. The Dental Hygiene Professional Practice Index (DHPPI) was used as an indicator of the state policy environment. The influence of grantee and state level characteristics are also considered. Mixed effects models were used to account for correlations introduced by the multiple hierarchical structure of the data. Key findings of this study demonstrate that state policy environment is a predictor of the availability and access to dental care and the oral health status of medically underserved communities that received care at a grantee of the U.S. Health Center program. Grantees located in states with highly restrictive policy environments were 73% less likely to deliver dental services and, those that do, provided care to 7% fewer patients than those grantees located in states with the most supportive policy environments. Population’s served by grantees from the most restrictive states received less preventive care and had greater restorative and emergency dental care needs. State policy environment is a predictor of availability and access to dental care and the oral health status of medically underserved communities. This study has important implications for policy at the federal, state, and local levels. Findings demonstrate the need for policy and advocacy efforts at all levels, especially within states with restrictive policy environments.