Telehealth Education: An Interprofessional Online Immersion Experience in Response to COVID-19

Abstract

Background: In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities halted in-person education and health care pivoted to telehealth delivery models. This article describes a nurse-led educational program that transitioned to fully online delivery to prepare interprofessional teams of health care students to use telehealth during the pandemic and beyond. Method: Participants included 67 students from seven professions. Researchers developed “the four Ps of telehealth” model to guide the curriculum. The program used pre- and postassessments including the Confidence in Planning for Telehealth Scale, the Telehealth Etiquette Knowledge Scale, and the Confidence in Providing Telehealth Scale. Results: There were significant improvements in scores on all scales following the program ( p = .000). Conclusion: The results suggest that comprehensive telehealth education should focus on more than just delivering telehealth but also planning and preparing for its delivery. Programs such as this online program can serve as a model for future telehealth programs to prepare providers. [ J Nurs Educ . 2020;59(10):570–576.]

Rapid Implementation and Evaluation of Virtual Health Training in a Subspecialty Hospital in British Columbia, in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…One of the significant and immediate outcomes of training was the increase in confidence, a finding also noted by others ( 11 , 20 , 21 ). As might be expected, this was more pronounced with participants who had no previous exposure to VH.…”

To what extent is telehealth reported to be incorporated into undergraduate and postgraduate allied health curricula: A scoping review

“…The updated search on May 27th 2021 identified a further 931 studies. Following screening and selection, two additional studies met the inclusion criteria [ 24 , 25 ]. Therefore, a total of 11 studies were included in this review.…”

“…In the remaining ten studies, the allied health students varied from 14 [ 31 ] to 139 [ 32 ]. The allied health students included in the studies by Edirippulige et al [ 26 ], Rutledge et al [ 24 ], Simpson et al [ 31 ], and Serwe and Bowman [ 34 ], were from single allied health professions of physiotherapy, social worker, psychology and occupational therapy (OT) respectively. The students enrolled in the course and programs for which curricula were reported in the other seven studies, came from a mixture of programs including the allied health programs of OT, physiotherapy, speech pathology, psychology, audiology, social work, and other non-allied health programs.…”

“…Despite all studies investigating telehealth education in university programs, there was variability in how this education was incorporated. Within the eleven studies, three of the curricula courses reported on, related to elective courses [ 24 , 27 , 29 ], seven were mandatory [ 25 , 26 , 28 , 31 – 34 ], and one study did not specify whether the course was mandatory or elective [ 30 ].…”

Pediatric Telehealth in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era and Beyond

“…Although telehealth training has not been standardized nationally, some organizations have developed comprehensive materials and training programs are increasingly incorporating telehealth into their curricula. [28][29][30] The American Association of Medical Colleges recently published competencies to guide future telehealth education. 31 Despite the lack of standardization, there is literature indicating that provider acceptance of telehealth hinges on ease of use and perceived usefulness, 32 with training influencing both of these.…”