Perspectives on the use of a telehealth service-delivery model as a component of school-based occupational therapy practice: Designing a user-experience

Abstract

Telehealth is "the application of evaluative, consultative, preventative, and therapeutic services delivered through telecommunication and information technologies," (AOTA, 2014, p. S69). The evidence literature provides support for the use of a telehealth service-delivery model in occupational therapy (OT) practice within various settings. The use of telehealth in pediatric occupational therapy has been shown to be effective by increasing access to specialist care and preventing delays in provision of services (Cason, 2014), increasing collaboration and carry-over of treatment strategies (Gibbs & Toth-Cohen, 2011), and improving overall therapist/client satisfaction (Ashburner, 2016;Criss, 2013;Reifenberg, et al., 2017;Zylstra, 2013). Despite the effectiveness of a telehealth service-delivery model, the use of telehealth in occupational therapy practice is limited, potentially due to a lack of knowledge about telehealth.Education is a critical factor necessary to promote successful implementation of telehealth in clinical practice (Nissen & Brockevelt, 2016). In order to educate schoolbased working professionals, including OT practitioners and school district administrators, about the use of telehealth, an asynchronous, online educational program vi about the use of telehealth is proposed. A participatory action research model was used in the initial phase of the project. School-based occupational therapists, certified occupational therapy assistants, district administrators, and related technology staff were invited to complete a survey intended to explore attitudes about the use of telehealth.Results of the survey guided the formation and implementation of a client-centered program designed to educate participants about the potential benefits and barriers to the use of telehealth in a pediatric, school-based setting. Stakeholders were invited to complete the online educational program about telehealth and complete a post-program survey to reflect on any knowledge gained as a result of the course. This educational program addresses a gap in knowledge, experience, and awareness of telehealth among occupational therapy practitioners and school district stakeholders. Further collaboration between occupational therapy practitioners and researchers is needed to continue to explore potential uses of telehealth within a school-based setting.

Perceptions of School-Based Telehealth in a Rural State: Moving Forward After COVID-19

“…The main barriers to implementation were found to be practitioner training, student technology needs, and quality concerns that telehealth is not equivalent to in-person intervention. Training and quality concerns as perceived barriers were consistent with previous literature ( Camden & Silva, 2021 ; Rortvedt & Jacobs, 2017 ). According to Nissen and Brockvelt (2016), education is a critical factor necessary to promote successful implementation of telehealth in clinical practice.…”

“…In a 2019 pilot study, practitioners without telehealth experience expressed several perceived barriers: (1) logistics, (2) lack of physical contact, (3) student factors, (4) privacy concerns, (5) difficulty completing student evaluations, and ( 6) other perceived barriers. The same study found that 42% of respondents expressed an interest in participating in an educational program about telehealth (Rortvedt & Jacobs, 2019). Conditions for success in virtual delivery have been reported to include technical skills, digital literacy, online privacy, ethics, and knowledge of how to use therapeutic skills via a digital context (Camden & Silva, 2021).…”

What are the perspectives of speech pathologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists on using telehealth videoconferencing for service delivery to children with developmental delays? A systematic review of the literature

“…Five studies used a mixed‐methods design 9,13,31‐33 . Hill and Miller, 13 Raatz et al 32 and Rortvedt and Jacobs 33 used a cross‐sectional survey design with some open‐ended questions for thematic analysis.…”

Pharmacists’ Perspectives on the Use of Telepharmacy in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

“…25 A study in the United States on Telehealth showed that 28.57% of participants were likely to use ICTs in healthcare. 26 This variance might be due to differences in study population and the time of the study. In the context of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the terms “Telehealth,” “Telemedicine” had become more prevalent than ever.…”