Patient Satisfaction with Telehealth in Rural Settings: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Telehealth provides health care services to clients through telecommunications. Rehabilitation services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language therapy can be delivered via telehealth. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients’ reports of their satisfaction with telehealth compared to standard in-person therapy for patients living in rural areas. Four databases were utilized for this systematic review. The following words were searched: telehealth, rural, and patient satisfaction. Abstract searches identified 251 articles, and 55 were read in full text. Four articles met inclusion criteria. There was high satisfaction for patients in all studies regarding the use of telehealth. Findings showed that overall, telehealth supported increased rates of patient satisfaction for OT, PT, and SLP services delivered to rural communities.

Neurologic Music Therapy via Telehealth: A Survey of Clinician Experiences, Trends, and Recommendations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…(Isernia et al, 2020 Other than the decrease of RAS in the sensorimotor domain, NMTs continued to work on the same techniques in the cognitive and speech/language domains over telehealth and in-person sessions. The successful continuation of cognitive and speech/language interventions over telehealth was seen in previous research (Langbecker et al, 2019;Harkey et al, 2020). Periodically, the focus of techniques within domains shifted: seventy-nine percent of respondents in our qualitative analysis answered affirmatively to the question about whether therapists were addressing goals related to the stresses and mood dysregulations.…”

“…They found that the cognitive decline in the patients who received telehealth care was comparable to those receiving in-person care (Kim et al, 2017;Schneider and Biglan, 2017). Harkey et al (2020) found that for occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and speech-language pathologists, providing services to remote communities via telehealth greatly improved patient satisfaction with services. Limitations in accessibility typically occur as a result of isolation in remote and rural locations, disabilities, or impairments that impedes an individual's ability to travel.…”

"We are so close; yet too far": perceived barriers to smartphone-based telerehabilitation among healthcare providers and patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in India

“…Globally, healthcare disparities are frequent, with the majority of healthcare settings, such as multispecialty hospitals, located in urban regions and patients living in close proximity to the settings benefiting the most, while rural patients receive the least attention ( Bagchi, 2019 ; Harkey et al., 2020 ). Telerehabilitation through smartphone is an innovative management strategy that addresses the disparity in healthcare utilization between rural and urban areas ( Harkey et al., 2020 ).…”

“…Globally, healthcare disparities are frequent, with the majority of healthcare settings, such as multispecialty hospitals, located in urban regions and patients living in close proximity to the settings benefiting the most, while rural patients receive the least attention ( Bagchi, 2019 ; Harkey et al., 2020 ). Telerehabilitation through smartphone is an innovative management strategy that addresses the disparity in healthcare utilization between rural and urban areas ( Harkey et al., 2020 ). We are not surprised that the majority of healthcare professionals surveyed believed that smartphone-based telerehabilitation is more necessary in rural areas than in urban areas, since the majority of COPD patients cannot access conventional rehabilitation treatments.…”

The Satisfaction of Older Adults About Online Group Exercise Program: An alternative option to maintain physical and mental wellbeing during COVID 19 pandemic

“…The success of telehealth as a service delivery model was attributed to quality of care, safety, reduced cost and no travelling. [12] In the current suboptimal pandemic climate, virtual geriatric clinics may allow Geriatricians to continue to provide an outpatient service, despite the encountered inherent challenges. [13] Leif Bob et al concluded that the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire having an overall good psychometric property can be used as an outcome measure for evaluating the effectiveness of telemedicine interventions.…”