Benefits and challenges of telehealth use by patients with neurological conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background/Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about numerous changes in our healthcare system. In order to continue healthcare delivery whilst also ensuring social distancing, telehealth was adopted. This approach allowed different healthcare workers to ensure the patient's needs were met. For this reason, the author aimed to investigate the benefits and challenges brought about by this new healthcare delivery method during the COVID-19 pandemic from a neurological patient's point of view. Method: The author developed a questionnaire to gather the necessary data. This questionnaire was composed of a mixture of open and closed-ended questions and was distributed to neurological patients at the Neurological Rehabilitation Unit in St Luke's Hospital. Data was then analysed using the chi-squared test on SPSS and scrutinised using thematic analysis. Results: A total of 18 participants completed the questionnaire, having a 69.23% completion rate. The majority of participants were overall very satisfied or satisfied with the telerehabilitation sessions during the pandemic (n=16) however, despite this high satisfaction rate, only 17% of the participants (n=3) would opt to continue telerehabilitation sessions when face-to-face sessions resumed. Furthermore, participants agreed that telerehabilitation allowed for continuity of care during the pandemic; however, the lack of physical touch was a significant barrier identified. Of the questions, none had a significant correlation with age and condition. Conclusion: Telerehabilitation was a suitable option to replace face-to-face sessions during the pandemic; however, patients prefer the conventional method over telerehabilitation. Participants also proposed a possible option of hybrid physiotherapy, where a combination of remote and physical sessions are adopted.