Lockdowns, Exclusion and Resilience: Our first Pandemic Related Studies

Sleep, Lyndal; Harris, Paul

doi:10.36251/josi.230

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Digital exclusion is more commonly experienced by those from lower SES backgrounds and CALD backgrounds and those with greater social complexity (Rodriguez et al, 2022;Thomas et al, 2021). Findings from the present study may demonstrate the presence of a digital divide (Sleep & Harris, 2021) or a 'digital inverse care law' as coined by Davies et al (2021). Planning for future allied health services could directly address digital inclusion to ensure families are not falling through the gaps (Sieck et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Therapist perceptions of barriers to telehealth uptake in children's occupational therapy

Mills

Hazeltine

Zucco

et al. 2023

Aus Occup Therapy J

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Introduction The COVID‐19 pandemic resulted in a rapid shift to telehealth implementation across paediatric occupational therapy services. Although telehealth can be an appealing option, access is conditional, and the delivery of a telehealth service differs from face‐to‐face. If telehealth is to be a viable and equitable option for families, insight is needed into why the service might be declined. The purpose of our study was to explore barriers to paediatric occupational therapy telehealth services from client and therapist perspectives in a Greater Sydney local health district. Method A mixed method approach was used, including (i) retrospective review of clinical records for 250 clients seeking occupational therapy who declined the service and (ii) a focus group with four therapists providing the service. Client demographic information was summarised using descriptive statistics. Open‐text responses about reasons for declining telehealth were analysed using qualitative content analysis, whereas thematic analysis was used to explore focus group data. Findings Key findings from the mixed methods analysis identified barriers and issues to consider when working to ensure equitable access to telehealth for children and families. These issues included child engagement, family complexity, the nature of assessments, interventions, and overarching service characteristics as well as the family's digital inclusion. Digital inclusion comprises affordable access to the internet, data, and devices and the capacity of a child and/or family to engage online. Conclusion Our findings suggest that telehealth is not a panacea when face‐to‐face services are not available. Multiple barriers confounded uptake of telehealth prompting a call to action to ensure equitable access to occupational therapy services for all children.

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