Purpose: Telehealth is one of the ways to provide health care services to all the people in the society, especially those, who live in the deprived areas. Telehealth has benefits such as lower cost, easier way to access to the services with high quality. In addition, the culture of each region could have an important effect on usage of telehealth. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the effect of cultural parameters on telehealth in Iran.
Materials and methods: In this review, selected keywords including telehealth, telemedicine, telehealth and culture, telemedicine and culture, and Iranian culture were searched from Persian published articles using Scopus, SID, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases. The search method was based on the guidelines of the New York University Publications and Reviews Center. Articles that met the inclusion criteria were selected and extracted from all of them. Then, with the help of experts, the findings were analyzed and collected.
Findings: Based on the selected six papers, the cultural parameters affecting telehealth in Iran are divided in eight categorizes: 1. Weak privacy protection methods, 2. Patients' preference for face-to-face visits, 3. Patients' concern about the quality of services provided, 4. Attitudinal and behavioral limitations of people, 5. Avoiding technology in the elderly, 6. Resistance of doctors and health care providers, 7. Language difference, level of health literacy and academic literacy, and 8. The phenomenon of resistance to change.
Conclusion: Considering the increasing development of information technology and its application in life, especially in the field of people's health, the successful development of telehealth and solving cultural problems in the country's health system requires increasing the awareness and training of people both as service providers and as recipients.