Telehealth in paediatric physical therapy education: Strategies and perceptions of interns and caregivers of children with disabilities in Brazil

Abstract

Aims: To describe the implementation of paediatric rehabilitation telehealth at a physical therapy (PT) unit in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic and to describe the perception about this modality by two groups: (1) undergraduate PT students using telehealth during their clinical rotations in this unit and (2) the caregivers of children with disabilities receiving the services. Methods: Twenty-one PT interns (19 females; 25 ± 2 years of age) and seven caregivers (seven females; 40 ± 6 years of age) of seven children with disabilities (five females; 10 ± 4 years of age; five children diagnosed with cerebral palsy) responded to an online questionnaire about their experience with the telehealth programme. Participant attendance and frequency of objective responses were reported descriptively; open-ended responses were analysed qualitatively and grouped according to broad themes. Results: 71.4% of interns rated telehealth as an excellent or good experience, and 28.6% did not appreciate it. In addition, 28.6% of them thought that telehealth should be part of the mandatory internship. Regarding caregivers, 85.8% judged the telehealth programme as excellent or good. Both interns and caregivers cited pros and cons related to technology, professional resources, communication skills and caregiver-related aspects, among others. Conclusions: Specific teaching strategies had to be utilised for implementation of telehealth. Despite being a novel modality for interns and caregivers, telehealth was well accepted.