Implementation of telerehabilitation in response to COVID-19: Lessons learnt from neurorehabilitation clinical practice and education (original) (raw)
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The South African Journal of Physiotherapy, 2021
Background The announcement of a national lockdown in South Africa had country-wide impact on the delivery of health services. Strategies included prioritisation of patients and protecting patients who were considered at risk, resulting in the need for cancellation and temporary termination of many outpatient therapy services. This necessitated the urgent need to come up with a way of delivering physiotherapy rehabilitation services to patients in a more non-traditional format. Telerehabilitation allows for the provision of services by using electronic communication, thus ensuring that patients are still able to access necessary rehabilitation services. Methods/design This is a prospective, mixed method study with participants recruited from the outpatient physiotherapy department of Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH). Telerehabilitation services will be provided via the patients’ preferred method of communication. On discharge, participants and therapists will be aske...
BMC Health Services Research
Background Telerehabilitation, i.e. rehabilitation at a distance using Information and Communication Technology (ICT), is a promising avenue for improving health among people with neurological diseases or older adults who often experience limited access to services. Still, little is known about physiotherapists’ use, perceptions and needs with regards to telerehabilitation services. Aims To describe physiotherapists use and perceptions of, as well as needs for, telerehabilitation services for the rehabilitation of people with neurological diseases or older adults in Sweden. Methods In this cross-sectional study, an author-created survey was sent out to members of the Swedish Association of Physiotherapists including questions about the use and perceptions of existing telerehabilitation services (e.g. telephone, internet-based applications and mobile applications) as well as needs of future telerehabilitation services. The results were presented descriptively as numbers and percenta...
Negah Institute for Scientific Communication, 2021
Objectives: COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences highlighted the importance of using telerehabilitation systems and affected the professional’s attitude toward it. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility, satisfaction, and attitude of rehabilitation professionals toward telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the feasibility, satisfaction, and attitude of rehabilitation professionals toward virtual training and telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 118 occupational therapists, speech therapists, audiologists, psychologists, and educators completed the study questionnaires. Results: The findings indicate that the correlations among satisfaction, feasibility, advantages, and compatibility were significant (r ranging from 0.418 to 0.717). There were significant but weak positive correlations between years of working experience and scores of feasibility and advantages. In addition, the mean scores of feasibility, advantages, compatibility, and complexity in participants who provided telerehabilitation before the COVID-19 pandemic were higher than other respondents. Discussion: Because of the positive role of telerehabilitation in a situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic, health care systems should create mechanisms for its optimal use, protocol preparation, health professionals training, and infrastructure acquisition.
Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2021
Rupali Kumar1, Candice Osborne1, Robert Rinaldi1, Jason A. D. Smith1,2, Shannon B. Juengst1,3, Surendra Barshikar1* 1Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Texas, USA 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Texas, USA 3Department of Applied Clinical Research, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Texas, USA *Correspondence should be addressed to Surendra Barshikar; Surendra.barshikar@utsouthwestern.edu
Barriers and Challenges of Implementing Telerehabilitation: A Systematic Review
Iranian Rehabilitation Journal, 2021
Objectives: Telerehabilitation (TR) is an alternative approach for providing rehabilitation services in some situations, like Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. There exist some obstacles, especially during the pre-implementation phase of TR, necessitating an investigation of existing local evidence. This research aimed to investigate the challenges of TR. Methods: Five electronic databases (Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, SID, & Magiran) were searched for studies published in English and Persian language from 2011 to February 2021. Search results in all databases provided a total of 598 articles. After reviewing the titles of the articles, we excluded 574 articles as they were duplicated and/or irrelevant. Finally, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 11 articles have remained. Results: Most extracted articles were published in 2020 (n=4). The remaining articles disturbed between 2013 until 2021. These articles were mostly reviews, case reports/series, or qualitative studies and surveys. Geographically, 27% of the final selected papers belonged to the USA, 46% to Asia, and 27% to Europe. Outcomes in studies mostly included TR advantages and disadvantages, facilitators, challenges, and barriers. Discussion: Studies specified numerous challenges for TR implementation. The main challenges in the technologies used in TR were the awareness and culture of individuals and the TR infrastructure. Despite these barriers, TR could be a better treatment selection in some patients. Therefore, it is necessary for health policymakers, and especially rehabilitation managers, technology developers, scientists, and clinicians to cooperatively make serious efforts to remove these barriers.
International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 has had a significant impact on healthcare. Most governments worldwide enforced stringent lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 (Barach et al., 2020). A sudden halt in in-person physiotherapy services prompted physiotherapists to find innovative solutions to remotely meet the needs of patients (Minghelli et al., 2020). Travel restrictions and fear of infection kept patients with rehabilitation needs away from clinics and hospitals (de Biase et al., 2020). Thus, telerehabilitation soon became a necessity. Telerehabilitation, a branch of telemedicine, is defined as using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to provide rehabilitation services to people remotely in their homes or other environments (Brennan et al., 2009). The practice of telerehabilitation has been documented in the literature for over two decades. With advancements in technology and the ubiquitous nature of personal computing, providing telerehabilitation has become more accessible, and more clinicians and patients are opting for this model of healthcare delivery (Peretti et al., 2017). Studies have found telerehabilitation to be just as effective in various physiotherapy specialties as traditional in-person rehabilitation. Additionally, it is an economical alternative for patients residing in remote locations (Seron et al., 2021). The Centre for Health Exercise & Sports Medicine, University of Melbourne, has developed an evidence summary for physiotherapy care via telerehabilitation (Hinman et al., 2020).
Telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Patients and Physical Therapists’ Experiences
Medical Principles and Practice, 2022
Highlights of the Study • This study was aimed at exploring satisfaction and attitudes of patients towards telerehabilitation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and at reporting physical therapists' experience with the use of telerehabilitation. • Most patients were satisfied with telerehabilitation during COVID-19 pandemic, facing no difficulties in managing their conditions remotely. • Physical therapists had positive experiences with telerehabilitation during COVID-19 pandemic using professional guidelines. • Physical therapists favor the use of telerehabilitation as an adjunct method during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Telerehabilitation: Expanding access to rehabilitation expertise
Proceedings of The IEEE, 2001
The potential of modern telecommunications and computing technologies as tools in the delivery and evaluation of assistive technology (AT) has been discussed and has been termed telerehabilitation. The problems of providing AT in rural areas parallels the delivery of health care to rural areas where the proportion of people with chronic illnesses is higher and the means to pay for them is reduced. Large distances mean long travel times, increasing costs associated with any service delivery, and consuming valuable time skilled professionals could be using to provide services elsewhere. The technology available for practising telerehabilitation is significant and expanding at a rapid rate. Currently, plain old telephone systems (POTS) and broad-band videoconferencing equipment, Internet and World Wide Web, and embedded processor systems are most widely available. These technologies continue to evolve as well as emerging technologies such as wearable sensors that will have telehabilitation applications. Issues of payment, safety liability, and licensure need to be resolved, as legislation lags the development of new technologies
Medical Principles and Practice
Objectives: This study aimed to explore patients’ satisfaction and attitudes regarding telerehabilitation use during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to report physical therapists’ experiences with the use of telerehabilitation. Subjects and Methods: A modified Telemedicine Satisfaction and Usefulness Questionnaire (TSUQ) was used to assess the satisfaction and attitudes of musculoskeletal patients who had received telerehabilitation services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight physical therapists to explore their experiences with telerehabilitation, including the difficulties and benefits. Results: Out of 53 patients received telerehabilitation, 46 questionnaires were completed, with a response rate of 86.8%. In general, the patients were satisfied with and had positive attitudes towards the telerehabilitation services. The majority of the patients felt more involved in their care via telerehabilitation (89.2%) and believed that...