Client, provider and community referrer perceptions of telehealth for the delivery of rural paediatric allied health services

Abstract

Objective: To examine allied health client, provider and community referrer perceptions of telehealth for the delivery of rural paediatric allied health services to facilitate adoption. Design: A qualitative design employed semistructured interviews with the three key stakeholder groups. Setting: Stakeholders were associated with BUSHkids (The Royal Queensland Bush Children's Health Scheme), a not-for-profit organisation serving children and families in Queensland, Australia. Participants: Thirty-nine stakeholders (12 clients, 16 providers and 11 community referrers). Main outcome measures:Participants were asked about familiarity with telehealth, willingness to use telehealth and perceived barriers and facilitators to telehealth acceptability. Result: Fifty-nine percent of participants had experienced telehealth and 77 percent were willing to use it. Participants perceived that technology problems were a barrier to telehealth, that children would not be able to concentrate on or enjoy telehealth sessions, that relationships and communication would be inferior to in-person sessions, and that telehealth was inappropriate for disciplines employing physical touch. Participants identified access to health services as a key benefit of telehealth, said that technology problems could be worked around, and said that telehealth services could be supported with internal partners (eg, assistants) and external partners (eg, local medical centres).They also identified a variety of telehealth benefits to families (eg, convenience, privacy). Conclusion: Overall, telehealth was acceptable to stakeholders. Providers need training to facilitate child participation online and identify alternatives to physical touch. Co-learning opportunities should be used to address low provider and referrer self-efficacy. K E Y W O R D Sallied health, children, perceptions, stakeholders, telehealth 420 |

Effects of a family dyadic partnership program for people with hypertension in a rural community: A pilot randomised controlled trial

“…This strategy to involve family members who are the main daily caregivers to the hypertensive patients and equip them with better patient‐family partnership in hypertension care, can be applied to rural context generally and in developed countries, such as Australia. To provide efficient and ongoing daily care of people with chronic illnesses such as hypertension and to address the peculiar and specific behavioural norms of rural culture, a therapeutic and supportive family context and partnership can be crucial and important, 35 despite the fact that telehealth can benefit to patients and families in some rural areas where internet or teleconferencing connection and communication can be available and affordable 36 . This family‐oriented model of hypertension management applied to rural areas can bring better physical and psychological outcomes for both patients and their family caregivers.…”

Community awareness of speech pathology: A regional perspective

“…Participants in the study also reported a lack of physical touch and a reduction in the personal rapport that is built when there is face‐to‐face contact as barriers to accepting eHealth allied health services 33 . Interestingly, no participants identified technology difficulties as a barrier to accessing eHealth services 33 . While the current study did not explore the reasons for only accessing face‐to‐face services, it would seem logical that technological access was not the primary barrier to accessing non‐traditional (ie telehealth) therapy services given the mode of survey delivery.…”

“…In rural and remote settings, optimal access might include shifting from the traditional method of allied health service delivery that relies on either therapists or recipients travelling distances to provide and access services to telehealth delivery of services 33 . Embracing alternative methods such as telehealth services was not an option to improve service delivery to regional, rural and remote in earlier studies, 7,8,10 but it is an avenue that certainly requires continued expansion given the impact of COVID‐19 on access to allied health services.…”

“…However, given the known inequities in health service delivery to rural and remote Australian communities, continued research into facilitating access to and use of this mode of health service delivery is required 34 . A recent Australian study investigating the perceptions of telehealth for the delivery of rural paediatric allied health services reported that the majority of participants were willing to use these services but perceived that it would be difficult for children to participate in telehealth sessions 33 . Participants in the study also reported a lack of physical touch and a reduction in the personal rapport that is built when there is face‐to‐face contact as barriers to accepting eHealth allied health services 33 .…”

“…A recent Australian study investigating the perceptions of telehealth for the delivery of rural paediatric allied health services reported that the majority of participants were willing to use these services but perceived that it would be difficult for children to participate in telehealth sessions 33 . Participants in the study also reported a lack of physical touch and a reduction in the personal rapport that is built when there is face‐to‐face contact as barriers to accepting eHealth allied health services 33 . Interestingly, no participants identified technology difficulties as a barrier to accessing eHealth services 33 .…”