A call to care: challenging assumptions about telehealth

Beth Vale | September 2022

Like many working in the health sector, we’ve seen an explosion of telehealth innovation over the past few years, with COVID forcing providers to do healthcare differently. Mobile phones made it possible to reach people quickly, remotely and at low cost, delivering everything from education to food vouchers to psychosocial support.

Percept ran a three-month telehealth pilot with patients with uncontrolled sugar levels living in Hanover Park, Cape Town. Each received 10 to 20 telephonic engagements offering remote glucose monitoring, and psychosocial support. 

In September, I was able to share some of this incredible work we did at Percept at the 10th “Why the World Needs Anthropology” international conference in Berlin. Watch this 6-minute presentation to learn how a pilot telehealth programme for patients with diabetes challenged some big assumptions about telehealth.