Minimizing acts of violence through telephone-linked care
an
automated telephone system for outpatients in forensic
psychiatric care
Achievements within the fields of computer- and telecommunication technology have led to a revolution when it comes to managing information. These achievements have made it possible to offer new services in healthcare, especially in telemedicine. New technology has become a complement to traditional care, thus partly compensating for insufficient time and resources. Telephone Linked Care (TLC) is a telecommunication technology that enables automated dialog counselling and monitoring of patients in their homes. During the last two decades numerous randomized controlled studies with TLC have demonstrated improvement among outpatients with chronic and health behaviour disorders. TLC uses a technology called Interactive Voice Response (IVR) that generates pre-recorded speech or computerized text-to-speech. The user interacts with the system via the telephone keypad or real speech. This thesis is part of a Swedish research project called Minimizing Acts of Violence through Telephone Linked Care (MAV-TLC), also called Telecoach?. The overall purpose of the project is to support outpatients in forensic psychiatric care towards better quality of life and to decrease the risk of recidivism in violent crime by increasing awareness of inner impulses (in thought and action). The purpose of this thesis is to summarize the technology available for TLC in general and for MAV-TLC in particular. Advantages and disadvantages of this technology will be considered with MAV-TLC in mind. As the project is multidisciplinary this thesis can be useful to students and practitioners in nursing, social work, psychology, medicine, medical informatics, telecommunications and engineering.