Communications Satellites in Health Education and Health Care Delivery: Operation Considerations

In the past decade, communication satellites have assumed an increasingly significant role in meeting world communication needs. Advocates project vast arrays of potential utilization for this distance independent technology. Such expansion of use depends upon user acceptance, a variable which has as a requisite dimension, the perception of trouble-free operation and similarity with face to face verbal interaction. Following two hundred twenty-two satellite-mediated broadcasts, the authors review the variety of user-related pitfalls which occurred during this experiment in health education and health care delivery. Specific consideration is given to those problems which need to be remedied for a “user acceptable” system of satellite communication in the health care arena. Though the technical system works, it is suggested that additional emphases upon participant acceptance are necessary before the technology will be widely accepted and utilized.