Telerehabilitation and Clinical Applications: Research, Opportunities, and Challenges

Schmeler, Mark R.; Schein, Richard M.; McCue, Michael; Betz, Kendra

doi:10.5195/ijt.2008.701

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 56 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…"Telehealth" and "telemedicine" were entered as keywords on the main page of Google Trends™ (available at http:// googletrends.com/trends, accessed October 9, 2020), as telerehabilitation was considered to fall within these umbrella terms. 19 Google Trends™ then automatically generated the relative search volume (RSV) of these keywords to assess the changes in interest (i.e., number of searches) in these terms over time. The results from Google Trends™ were normalized with sets of data divided by a shared variable to cancel out the variable's effects on the data.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Online Interest in Telehealth, Telemedicine, Telerehabilitation, and Related Search Terms Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Infodemiological Study

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background. Catalyzed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that restricted non-essential travel, awareness of the value of telehealth increased among healthcare providers and consumers. Telerehabilitation, a subset of telehealth and telemedicine, refers explicitly to the remote provision of rehabilitation services. However, since the majority were new to the concept of telerehabilitation, which was commonly interchanged with other related terms (e.g., telehealth, telemedicine, teletherapy, telecare, telepractice, etc.), and relevant internationally recognized guidelines were not available pre-pandemic, many turned to online resources to learn more about it. However, such might create confusion with the terminologies.Objective. This infodemiological study aimed to examine the trends of global online interest in telehealth, telemedicine, telerehabilitation, and related search terms. The authors hypothesized an abrupt rise in stakeholders' awareness regarding the virtual method of delivering or accessing healthcare, including rehabilitation services, during the pandemic.Method. Using Google Trends™, we obtained and analyzed the trends of global online interest in telehealth, telemedicine, telerehabilitation, and other related search terms from 2004 to October 2020.Results. The frequencies of searches for "telehealth," "telemedicine," and "telerehabilitation" peaked in March 2020, which coincided with the lockdown in many countries, including the Philippines. The term "telehealth" was more frequently searched in western countries, while "telemedicine" was relatively common in eastern countries. Among the terms synonymous with telerehabilitation, "teletherapy" was most commonly used worldwide, with "teletherapy speech" being the most searched related topic. The Philippines had the most significant number of times the term "telerehabilitation" was searched in the past decade. Conclusion.During the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an overall global demand for the acquisition of knowledge related to telehealth, telemedicine, telerehabilitation, and related search terms. Of particular interest, telerehabilitation, however, varied in terminologies across countries, with "teletherapy" mainly being used worldwide and "telerehabilitation" being primarily searched in the Philippines. Therefore, arriving at a consensus across professional societies and operationally defining different interrelated terms could help streamline our current or future guidelines and programs.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Online Interest in Telehealth, Telemedicine, Telerehabilitation, and Related Search Terms Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Infodemiological Study

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Virtual care refers to the use of telehealth, telerehabilitation, virtual assessments, and fittings. Digital technology and virtual care have successfully provided assistive devices assessment [ 4 , 5 ], therapy services [ 6 ], and diagnostic evaluations [ 7 ]. They have also eliminated distance obstacles from health care [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging Digital Technology to Overcome Barriers in the Prosthetic and Orthotic Industry: Evaluation of its Applicability and Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Binedell¹,

Wong²,

Blessing³

2020

JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The prosthetic and orthotic industry typically provides an artisan “hands-on” approach to the assessment and fitting of orthopedic devices. Despite growing interest in digital technology for prosthetic and orthotic service provision, little is known of the quantum of use and the extent to which the current pandemic has accelerated the adoption. Objective This study’s aim is to assess the use of digital technology in prosthetics and orthotics, and whether its use can help overcome challenges posed by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A web-based survey of working prosthetists, orthotists, and lower limb patients was conducted between June and July 2020 and divided into three sections: lower limb amputees, prosthetist and orthotist (P&O) currently using digital technologies in their practice, and P&O not using any digital technology. Input was sought from industry and academia experts for the development of the survey. Descriptive analyses were performed for both qualitative (open-ended questions) and quantitative data. Results In total, 113 individuals responded to the web-based survey. There were 83 surveys included in the analysis (patients: n=13, 15%; prosthetists and orthotists: n=70, 85%). There were 30 surveys excluded because less than 10% of the questions were answered. Out of 70 P&Os, 31 (44%) used digital technologies. Three dimensional scanning and digital imaging were the leading technologies being used (27/31, 88%), primarily for footwear (18/31, 58%), ankle-foot orthoses, and transtibial and transfemoral sockets (14/31, 45%). Digital technology enables safer care during COVID-19 with 24 out of 31 (77%) respondents stating it improves patient outcomes. Singapore was significantly less certain that the industry's future is digital (P=.04). The use of virtual care was reported by the P&O to be beneficial for consultations, education, patient monitoring, or triaging purposes. However, the technology could not overcome inherent barriers such as the lack of details normally obtained during a physical assessment. Conclusions Digital technology is transforming health care. The current pandemic highlights its usefulness in providing safer care, but digital technology must be implemented thoughtfully and designed to address issues that are barriers to current adoption. Technology advancements using virtual platforms, digitalization methods, and improved connectivity will continue to change the future of health care delivery. The prosthetic and orthotic industry should keep an open mind and move toward creating the required infrastructure to support this digital transformation, even if the world returns to pre–COVID-19 days.

show abstract

“…Telehealth has been used to provide assistive technology assessment [ 27 , 28 ], diagnostic evaluations [ 29 , 30 ], assessment and therapy services [ 31 ], and consultation opportunities for practitioners and people with disabilities in rural communities [ 32 ]. The benefits of telehealth include access to high-quality care, reduced travel time and costs, and increased collaboration among health care providers [ 29 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reaching People With Disabilities in Underserved Areas Through Digital Interventions: Systematic Review

Zhou¹,

Parmanto²

2019

J Med Internet Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background People with disabilities need rehabilitation interventions to improve their physical functioning, mental status, and quality of life. Many rehabilitation interventions can be delivered electronically ("digitally") via telehealth systems. For people with disabilities in underserved areas, electronically delivered rehabilitation interventions may be the only feasible service available for them. Objective The objective of this study was to evaluate the current status of digital interventions for people with disabilities in remote and underserved areas. Methods A systematic review was conducted on this topic. Keyword searches in multiple databases (PubMed, CINAHL, and Inspec) were performed to collect articles published in this field. The obtained articles were selected based on our selection criteria. Of the 198 identified articles, 16 duplicates were removed. After a review of the titles and abstracts of the remaining articles, 165 were determined to be irrelevant to this study and were therefore removed. The full texts of the remaining 17 articles were reviewed, and 6 of these articles were removed as being irrelevant to this study. The 11 articles remaining were discussed and summarized by 2 reviewers. Results These 11 studies cover a few types of disabilities, such as developmental disabilities and mobility impairments as well as several types of disability-causing disorders such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and facio-scapulo-humeral muscular dystrophy. Most of these studies were small-scale case studies and relatively larger-scale cohort studies; the project evaluation methods were mainly pre-post comparison, questionnaires, and interviews. A few studies also performed objective assessment of functional improvement. The intervention technology was mainly videoconferencing. Moreover, 10 of these studies were for people with disabilities in rural areas and 1 was for people in urban communities. Conclusions A small number of small-scale studies have been conducted on digital interventions for people with disabilities in underserved areas. Although the results reported in these studies were mostly positive, they are not sufficient to prove the effectiveness of telehealth-based digital intervention in improving the situation among people with disabilities because of the small sample sizes and lack of randomized controlled trials.

show abstract

Telerehabilitation and Clinical Applications: Research, Opportunities, and Challenges

Cited by 10 publications

References 56 publications

Global Online Interest in Telehealth, Telemedicine, Telerehabilitation, and Related Search Terms Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Infodemiological Study

Global Online Interest in Telehealth, Telemedicine, Telerehabilitation, and Related Search Terms Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Infodemiological Study

Leveraging Digital Technology to Overcome Barriers in the Prosthetic and Orthotic Industry: Evaluation of its Applicability and Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Reaching People With Disabilities in Underserved Areas Through Digital Interventions: Systematic Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About