Environmental Considerations for Effective Telehealth Encounters: A Narrative Review and Implications for Best Practice

Guidelines and recommendations about virtual mental health services from high-income countries: a rapid review

“…22 (52.5%) articles described the importance of, or methods for, assessing before virtual appointments to evaluate whether virtual care is a viable, useful method of care delivery for a patient’s particular needs 22–43. For example, one article described the importance of establishing a ’relationship’ between healthcare providers and patients to assess virtual care appropriateness23; another three articles noted that patients generally have a positive view of psychological screening assessments conducted prior to a virtual visit 24–27…”

“…Three articles (7.5%) listed criteria that providers should assess prior to a first virtual visit including: healthcare services the patient requires, resources available to providers and what is required for sustainable longitudinal care 28–30. One article suggested providers should also assess how their patients perceive their conditions,31 and four (n=7.5%) recommended asking what patients wish to gain from their appointment(s) 32–35…”

Barriers and enablers to telehealth use by physiotherapists during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Environmental constraints related to securing a quiet, private and confidential space, accessing equipment such as computers, and stable internet connection, were found to be crucial to the success or failure telehealth care delivery [14] . While individual therapists problem-solved these issues, the health system needs to consider these issues in, for example, the build of new hospitals and environments [19] .…”

Toward a basic science of communication in serious illness

“…Empirically investigating the influence of factors in the physical or digital environment on communication processes presents a research opportunity in serious illness. The growing use of virtual technologies offers a novel way of studying this relationship, allowing investigators to systematically manipulate environmental factors in a variety of clinical settings (e.g., changing virtual backgrounds in telehealth [48]).…”