Telemedicine offers an innovative approach to increase access to rehabilitation medicine services for patients who live in areas where physiatrists are scarce or absent. This article reviews the current status of telerehabilitation services delivered through real-time videoconferencing to provide support, assessment, and interventions to individuals with impairments or disabilities. A literature review demonstrates various uses of telerehabilitation by physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, audiologists, recreational therapists, neuropsychologists, nurses, other physician specialists, and physiatrists. We also provide more in-depth examples of 2 current programs that involve physiatrists: One furnishes telerehabilitation services to adult stroke survivors, and the other addresses the special health care needs of children with developmental disabilities. We discuss the benefits of using telemedicine via real-time videoconferencing to care for individuals with disabilities, outline the challenges of successfully implementing a physiatric telerehabilitation program, and finish with a list of potential applications for physiatrists interested in incorporating telemedicine into their practice. Further investigation of the use of telehealth technologies to deliver physiatric services, care coordination, and education is needed. We recommend that our professional societies develop and publish guidelines to facilitate development and use of telerehabilitation technologies to increase access to physiatric services.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.