Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

Sarah Nielsen

Keywords

Telehealth, rural, pediatrics, occupational therapy

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this scholarly project is to promote occupational therapy to rural pediatric populations by means of effective and efficient telehealth service delivery via an extensive toolkit. The toolkit is meant to enhance the occupational therapy practitioner’s skills, abilities, and competencies pertaining to telehealth to ease the transition to telehealth implementation.

Methodology: An in-depth literature review of current research was conducted to determine the common barriers and supports that are experienced by occupational therapy practitioners implementing telehealth service delivery. Due to the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous occupational therapy practitioners were compelled to transition to telehealth intervention sessions which provided an abundance of research encompassing the processes of telehealth service delivery. It was discovered that despite the increase of telehealth service use, the process continues to be encountered by occupational therapy practitioners with reluctance and hesitation. In part, this is due to the amount of time, preparation, development, and understanding of the necessary skills and information required by the occupational therapy practitioner to ensure effective and efficient telehealth occurs. The toolkit was developed with the Ecology of Human Performance model as a guide to ensure accurate representation of the occupational therapy process and expectations were obtained during telehealth (Dunn, 2017).

Results: The toolkit was created to promote occupational therapy practitioners’ use of telehealth service delivery throughout the occupational therapy process for rural pediatric populations. The toolkit provides information, materials, and tools specific to telehealth implementation in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, telehealth adaptations and modifications for the entire occupational therapy process, and other helpful tools to assist in effective and efficient telehealth service delivery.

Conclusion: Use of the toolkit is intended to increase occupational therapy telehealth service delivery to rural pediatric populations through expanding occupational therapy practitioners’ performance range by including information and tools that may promote skills, abilities, and competencies. It is recommended that this toolkit be utilized intermittently with in-person intervention sessions along with clinical judgement to determine the appropriateness and applicability for each client.

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