Experiences of therapists conducting psychological assessments and video conferencing therapy sessions with people with mild intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background. Due to the restrictive measures introduced to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, therapists working with people with mild intellectual disabilities have had to use video conferencing to continue to conduct their psychological assessments and therapy sessions. This qualitative study explored therapists' experiences of using video conferencing during the initial lockdown period in the Netherlands. Method. In total, seven therapists working at a service organisation supporting people with intellectual disabilities participated in this qualitative study (M ¼ 34.4 years; SD ¼ 6.0, range: 26-42). The therapists documented their experiences via audio recordings, which were subsequently analysed using thematic analysis. Results. Five themes emerged: 1) An immediate transition to virtual working; 2) Developing virtual ways to support service users in both coping with COVID-19 related stress and with continuing therapy; 3) Lacking the appropriate equipment; 4) Limitations in virtually attuning to people with mild intellectual disabilities; and 5) Unforeseen opportunities for distance-based psychological assessments and therapy. Conclusions. This study provides valuable insights into the experiences of therapists using video conferencing to support people with mild intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights can help inform clinical practice with respect to the use of video conferencing for psychological assessment and therapy with people with mild intellectual disabilities.

The Experiences of Outreach Support Staff Working with People with Mild Intellectual Disabilities during Different Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Netherlands: A Qualitative Study

“…Over the course of the pandemic, support staff were able to explore their preferences towards both remote and in-person support. Although remote support was sometimes experienced as useful, efficient, and effective, which is in line with previous research (e.g., [ 21 , 22 ]), overall, support staff preferred meeting (new) service users in-person, as they felt this gave them a better impression of their wellbeing and living situation. In other specific cases, however, support staff experienced how service users could benefit from remote support.…”

Preliminary Practice Recommendations for Telehealth Direct Applied Behavior Analysis Services with Children with Autism

“…The question is whether reinforcers within our control have a greater value than other stimuli that are concurrently available to our clients. For instance, therapists (psychologists, psychomotor therapists, and an art-based therapist) in Oudshoorn et al’s ( 2021 ) study reported that their participants with mild intellectual disabilities were checking smartphones more often in telehealth than during in-person sessions, which negatively affected their level of participation. Practitioners may need to work with the caregivers to facilitate the arrangement of a context in which competing reinforcers or distractors are minimized during sessions.…”

“…Moreover, even when the program incorporates 2D stimuli, if a client uses a small screen such as a tablet or a smartphone, the visibility of 2D stimuli is not guaranteed (e.g., Oudshoorn et al, 2021 ). In such a case, ABA practitioners might need to reduce the number of stimuli to present on the screen at once, which might conflict with certain programs such as a MTS program that uses five items in an array.…”

“…Although a reliable internet connection, software, and hardware are recommended for telehealth sessions (Baumes et al, 2020 ), in real-life practice it is hardly feasible to ensure them with every client in every session. Some practitioners (e.g., Oudshoorn et al, 2021 ) and some clients’ families might not have enough resources to secure high-quality software, hardware, and/or high-speed internet all the time. For example, the Federal Communications Commission ( 2019 ) reported that 21 million Americans did not have access to high-speed internet as of 2017.…”

Group early intervention eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy as a video-conference psychotherapy with frontline/emergency workers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury—An RCT study

“…To date, several research studies indicate that psychological treatment, delivered remotely though video-conference platforms, are both safe and feasible. Furthermore, that they offer greater flexibility, and improve equity of access ( Appleton et al, 2021 ; Broadbear et al, 2021 ; Cantone et al, 2021 ; Cataldo et al, 2021 ; Dharwadkar et al, 2021 ; Oudshoorn et al, 2021 ; Puspitasari et al, 2021 ; Shklarski et al, 2021a , b ; Vera San Juan et al, 2021 ; Milosevic et al, 2022 ). Smith et al (2022) , however, considers that although the evidence-base is promising further interrogation and research is needed to further explore the ethical and moral dimensions of video-conference psychotherapy.…”