Envisioning post pandemic digital social medical aftercare – opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Introduction: Socio-medical aftercare (SMN) is a service in Germany for chronically or severely ill children to facilitate transition from hospital to home. A multi-disciplinary team supports the families to organize and coordinate therapies and follow-up care with the goal to shorten hospital stay, ensure success of treatment, and improve self-efficacy and performance. Video consultations (VC) could help overcome challenges in structurally weak regions, complex illnesses, and language barriers. Objective: 1) To assess the feasibility of this method and the satisfaction of families, we conducted standardized interviews after VC and home visits. 2.) To discuss additional areas where VC can be used to provide future-oriented care for these families. Methods: A standardized interview with 21 questions using a 7-point Likert scale was applied to evaluate feasibility and parent satisfaction of SMN via VC. VC were conducted using a certified with end-to-end encryption. Results: A total of 138 interviews with parents were conducted between March 2020 and February 2021 and compared (99 after VC and 39 after in-person consultations). There were no significant differences found between the VC and in-person home visit groups in terms of confidentiality, feasibility, and discussion of private and sensitive information. During home visits, parents reported that their child was more comfortable and that they better understood the instructions and explanations regarding their child's development. They were also more satisfied with the home visit and expressed a greater likelihood of requiring a future home visit. Conclusions: Parents' acceptance and positive evaluations of the confidentiality of video-consultations offers the possibility of using them beyond the pandemic. However, home visits were preferred. Nevertheless, video consultations can expand the possibilities of SMN and can be a cost- and time-effective tool to reach out to families and their children who require support even in complex situations.