Telehealth and Occupational Well-Being Among Family Physicians: A Structural Equation Model of Pleasure, Engagement, and Meaning

Abstract

Telehealth has become a routine feature of Canadian primary care, yet its implications for the physicians who deliver it remain underexamined. Drawing on Well-Being Theory and the Job Demands–Resources model, this thesis examines how telehealth usage relates to family physicians’ pleasure, engagement, and meaning at work through five mechanisms: work autonomy, technological strain, cognitive overload, relational depth, and interpersonal connection. A cross-sectional survey of 190 Canadian family physicians was analyzed using structural equation modelling. The hypothesized model was rejected, but three of the six indirect effects were supported. Higher telehealth use was associated with lower well-being through greater digital encroachment and exhaustion and through reduced relational depth, which operated as a broad resource across all three well-being dimensions. Implications for the organization of virtual primary care are discussed.