The Perceptions of Telehealth Physiotherapy for People with Bronchiectasis during a Global Pandemic—A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Physiotherapy is a core component of management for people with bronchiectasis and has predominantly been delivered in an in-person consultative format. With the global pandemic, a telehealth physiotherapy model of service evolved, but the perceptions and experiences from the consumer perspective of this service have not been evaluated. Participants who had a diagnosis of bronchiectasis and received a minimum of two telehealth physiotherapy sessions during the months of March 2020 to December 2020 at a private hospital were invited to take part in a semistructured interview. Interview transcripts were coded independently, with themes established by consensus from two researchers. In total, nine participants completed interviews (age range 44 to 83 years, 67% male), with four themes identified. Themes were initial mixed opinions and acceptance of telehealth physiotherapy as an alternate model, ease of use and limitations to the telehealth platform, enablers and barriers to physiotherapy service provision, and preferences for future models of telehealth physiotherapy beyond a pandemic. In the event of the continuation of telehealth physiotherapy services for people with bronchiectasis, the perceptions and experiences outlined by consumers could be applied to inform future modification of this model of service.

Digital technologies in bronchiectasis physiotherapy services: a survey of patients and physiotherapists in a UK centre

“…In this study, most patients indicated greater interest in follow-up for physiotherapy using telephone compared with video consultation and app-based platforms, likely due to high familiarity with this method and potential lack of confidence with other forms of technology (13). Patient-provider communication through telephone has been used previously for information, advice, reassurance or monitoring purposes in respiratory patient populations (5) Most physiotherapy respondents indicated that they would be open to using video call methods for follow-up.…”

Bronchiectasis in Adults: Aetiology and New Therapies

“…Remote assessment is particularly challenging for physiotherapy, in which physical communication and touch have a key role. Lee and colleagues assessed a telehealth model of physiotherapy with prospective follow-up using semi-structured interviews [ 14 ]. This study only included nine participants with overall mixed opinions of the benefit of this intervention compared to traditional face-to-face interaction.…”