Exploring perceptions on the use of occupational therapy telehealth services during Covid-19

Abstract

Introduction: Covid-19 has enabled the expansion of telehealth in healthcare. Abroad, the use of telehealth has increased, along with the research body on the topic, suggesting that telehealth is a viable alternative to in-person visits. Little is known about the implementation, use and perceptions among occupational therapists (OTs) in Malta since they adopted telehealth modalities. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional survey of occupational therapists in Malta. The questionnaire assessed the use of telehealth, skills and training with technology, motivators, enablers, barriers, and perceptions on telehealth. The questionnaire mostly focused on OTs who are telehealth users, however the perception of telehealth non-users was also obtained. The descriptive statistics were calculated and compared with satisfaction and use of telehealth through the Kruskal-Wallis test; also, perceptions and satisfaction with factors were compared through the Kruskal-Wallis test and linear regression. Results: From the 51 survey responses, all the respondents met the inclusion criteria, representing approximately a 42.5% response rate of the Maltese occupational therapy workforce. 78.4% of the participants made use of telehealth at some time in their career. 65% of telehealth users reported that they are highly capable of providing quality care via telehealth. A significant influence between overall satisfaction with general care quality (p=0.025) and adoption of telehealth was found (p=<0.01). Additionally, infection control was identified as the main motivator, saving patient time as the main enabler and lack of patient technological competency as the main barrier. Discussion: Maltese OTs perceive telehealth positively and they are willing to adopt telehealth in their practice. Additionally, the providers think that telehealth does not impact care quality. Telehealth training, guidelines and policies are needed to maintain telehealth in a post Covid-19 world