Was a global pandemic needed to adopt the use of telehealth in occupational therapy?

Abstract

BACKGROUND: An analysis of data from an international survey was undertaken to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on telehealth practice in occupational therapy worldwide, in addition to facilitators and barriers in utilising this form of service delivery. METHOD: The global online survey was circulated in the occupational therapy community by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) between April and July 2020, collecting responses to closed-ended questions, in addition to free-text comments. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used to assess relationships between respondent characteristics and the utilisation of telehealth. Thematic statement analysis provided further insight regarding factors impacting telehealth use. RESULTS: Findings revealed a significant increase in the use of telehealth strategies with the onset of the pandemic among survey respondents, with many reported benefits. Bivariate analyses indicated telehealth users were more likely to score higher feelings of safety and positive work morale, as well as perceive employer expectations to be reasonable. Restricted access to technology, limitations of remote practice, funding issues and slow pace of change were identified as barriers for some respondents to utilising telehealth. Facilitators included availability of supportive policy, guidelines and strategies, in addition to education and training. CONCLUSION: This study advances the understanding of the current scope of occupational therapy telehealth practice in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Although results suggest long-term potential for telehealth use as an adjunct to traditional service provision, important considerations were identified regarding factors influencing integration of such strategies.

‘It became quite a complex dynamic’: The experiences of occupational therapy practice educators' move to digital platforms during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Telehealth involves ‘the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to deliver health‐related services when the provider and client are in different physical locations’ (World Federation of Occupational Therapists [WFOT], 2014 , p. 37). During the pandemic in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, occupational therapy services were either cancelled or rapidly moved from in‐person to telehealth models of care, without a planned transition to full implementation (Hoel et al, 2021a , 2021b ). The rapid shift to digital platforms enabled some practice education to continue while also creating unique opportunities for occupational therapy students to fulfil the minimum requirements of 1000 hours of practice education, in an environment of high demand for practice education providers (WFOT, 2016 ), particularly for final year students completing their course in Victoria.…”

New patient access via telehealth in neuromuscular medicine during COVID-19

“…Other allied health services such as physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and speech therapy (ST) serve a vital role in the care of our patients, and telehealth offers an opportunity to expand access to these services. Telehealth has been show to produce similar outcomes to inperson rehabilitation services [21]; in one survey of occupational therapy practitioners (OTP) new to telehealth completing a school-based training program, 80% indicated they are likely to add telehealth to their future OT practice [22]. The demand for OT services is also growing and outpacing the supply, with an anticipated shortage of OTPs occurring by 2030 [21]; so simultaneous access to neurological care and its allied services via telehealth is crucial.…”

Grupos de terapia ocupacional em telessaúde na pandemia de Covid-19: perspectivas de um Hospital-Dia de Saúde Mental

“…No entanto, devido à pandemia de COVID-19 e ao distanciamento social, as complexidades do trabalho em grupo passaram a incluir diferentes camadas envolvendo a equipe, os usuários dos serviços e a família. Terapeutas ocupacionais precisam reconhecer e trabalhar suas habilidades digitais para favorecer as pessoas com as quais trabalham para que realizem atividades e ocupações (Hoel et al, 2021;Proffitt et al, 2021). Além disso, como alerta Pitliuk (2020), é necessário ter referências teóricas e metodológicas claras para embasar nossas intervenções, especialmente neste cenário.…”

“…Apenas recomendar o trabalho em grupo online para os usuários dos serviços não é suficiente, e pode até se tornar uma barreira para o cuidado (Butler et al, 2008;Almathami et al, 2020). Terapeutas ocupacionais devem considerar quais são as circunstâncias desse indivíduo e suas necessidades para acessar o trabalho em grupo online antes de indicá-lo (Hoel et al, 2021;Proffitt et al, 2021). Butler et al (2008) dão destaque para a responsabilidade de liderança do grupo, que pode ser atribuída também aos terapeutas ocupacionais.…”

“…A responsabilidade pela continuidade do tratamento dos usuários levou o hospital-dia a oferecer grupos de telessaúde (Associação Brasileira dos Terapeutas Ocupacionais et al, 2020;World Federation of Occupational Therapists, 2014). Grupos de telessaúde foram usados como uma opção terapêutica na pandemia (Hoel et al, 2021;Pavani et al, 2021;Silva et al, 2020), mas as teorias de grupo existentes não foram desenvolvidas para telessaúde. Para contribuir com a literatura da terapia ocupacional ao discutir as complexidades da pandemia, da tecnologia e do potencial das(os) terapeutas ocupacionais para mudar a forma como oferecem terapia ocupacional em grupo, este artigo apresenta uma análise da prática de grupos de telessaúde de terapia ocupacional no contexto brasileiro.…”