Telehealth use for sexual and reproductive health promotion and care during the early phase of COVID-19 pandemic: A descriptive-interpretive qualitative study of healthcare providers’ perspectives and experiences in Western - Central New York State

Abstract

Telehealth emerged as an option for the provision of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care and promotion during COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. However, studies are limited on the perspectives and experiences of healthcare providers (HCPs) practicing in the Western-Central region of New York State. This qualitative interpretive study explored the perspectives and experiences of HCPs with telehealth use for sexual and reproductive health promotion including counselling, testing, care and treatment for HIV infection and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), in Western New York State. Ten HCPs participated in semi-structured in-depth interviews from October 2019-February 2021. These providers were predominately white, female, ranged in years of clinical experience (1-30 years). The narratives revealed three major themes: 1) healthcare providers’ perspectives of telehealth use, 2) healthcare providers’ experiences with telehealth use for SRH promotion and care, and 3) determinants of telehealth implementation. Though all providers reported an increase in the use of telehealth, experiences in the delivery of telehealth varied especially for sexual and reproductive health services. Some providers reported having more time to consult with patients because of a decrease in patient load which freed up time to engage with patients. Others reported technological limitations among some patients which impacted care. Strengthening telehealth-based sexual health promotion will serve to address efforts toward ending the HIV epidemic, reducing other STIs, and ensuring consistent access to contraception. To effectively implement telehealth findings, suggest a need to ensure adequate technological resources for patients, and a need to increase HCPs’ comfort to engage patients in sexual health conversations via telehealth.