BACKGROUND: Tele-rehabilitation (TR) has been developed to improve service access to ambulatory rehabilitation service in Hong Kong. The development was completed in October 2019 and rollout for use to occupational therapist (OT), Physiotherapist (PT) and speech therapist (ST). During the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, rehabilitation service was seriously interrupted. TR was used extensively as a novel mean of service delivery model to bridge the demand for rehabilitation service. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to (1) describe the design and development process of TR. And (2) as an observational study, to study how the TR platform was used to overcome the disruption of rehabilitation service during the COVID-2019 pandemic. METHODS: TR was developed utilizing four core determinants of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as guiding principle. A generic prescription platform called Activity Base Prescription System (ABPS) and a mobile app called Rehabilitation App were built. Five outcomes were used to examine the utilization of TR both before and during the pandemic periods that included throughput, patient demographic, patient conditions, workforce, satisfaction from patient and staff. RESULTS: There was tremendous increase in use of TR during pandemic. The total number of patient prescribed up till July 2020 were 9101. The main age distribution prescribed most was between 51 to 70 years old. It was found that TR was used to a much wider scope of patient conditions than the original development plan. More than 1112 therapists prescribed TR to patients which constituted to 50.6% of total workforce. Moreover, there was high satisfaction rate from patient 4.2/5 and high compliance rate to prescribed rehabilitation activities (81.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested that TR in the form of generic prescription platform and mobile app can be an effective mean to provide rehabilitation to patient. During outbreak period, TR has been used extensive and effectively to mitigate service disruption. Our finding also supported the high satisfaction of TR by patient. However, longer study is required to demonstrate the sustained use of TR especially after the pandemic.
BACKGROUND:Tele-rehabilitation (TR) has been developed to improve service access to ambulatory rehabilitation service in Hong Kong. The development was completed in October 2019 and rollout for use to occupational therapist (OT), Physiotherapist (PT) and speech therapist (ST). During the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, rehabilitation service was seriously interrupted. TR was used extensively as a novel mean of service delivery model to bridge the demand for rehabilitation service. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to (1) describe the design and development process of TR. And (2) as an observational study, to study how the TR platform was used to overcome the disruption of rehabilitation service during the COVID-2019 pandemic. METHODS:TR was developed utilizing four core determinants of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) as guiding principle. A generic prescription platform called Activity Base Prescription System (ABPS) and a mobile app called Rehabilitation App were built. Five outcomes were used to examine the utilization of TR both before and during the pandemic periods that included throughput, patient demographic, patient conditions, workforce, satisfaction from patient and staff. RESULTS: There was tremendous increase in use of TR during pandemic. The total number of patient prescribed up till July 2020 were 9101. The main age distribution prescribed most was between 51 to 70 years old. It was found that TR was used to a much wider scope of patient conditions than the original development plan. More than 1112 therapists prescribed TR to patients which constituted to 50.6% of total workforce. Moreover, there was high satisfaction rate from patient 4.2/5 and high compliance rate to prescribed rehabilitation activities (81.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested that TR in the form of generic prescription platform and mobile app can be an effective mean to provide rehabilitation to patient. During outbreak period, TR has been used extensive and effectively to mitigate service disruption. Our finding also supported the high satisfaction of TR by patient. However, longer study is required to demonstrate the sustained use of TR especially after the pandemic.
Authors: Hana Alsobayel; Faris Alodaibi; Ali Albarrati; Norah Alsalamah; Fadwa Alhawas; Ahmed Alhowimel Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-12-22 Impact factor: 3.390