CLIENT PERSPECTIVES ON OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY TELEHEALTH SERVICES IN ILLINOIS
JORDYN FULTON , OTS , & MONIKA ROBINSON , DROT , OTR / L
Over the past couple of months , practitioners within the Illinois Occupational Therapy Association ( ILOTA ) have formed a coalition to help advocate for permanent telehealth legislation beyond the Governor ’ s executive orders utilized during the emergency public health period . ILO- TA has joined the Coalition to Protect Telehealth Services in support of legislation that ensures payment and access parity of telehealth services to that of in-person services . This past February , House Bill 3498 was filed by State Representative Deb Conroy and at the time of this writing , over 40 members of the House Representatives have signed on to co-sponsor the bill . ILOTA has provided oral and written testimony at the House Insurance Subject Matter Committee Hearing in support of pursuing ongoing telehealth service delivery methods and reimbursement from insurers and Medicaid in Illinois . In addition , occupational therapy practitioners have been reaching out to representatives throughout Illinois as proponents of the bill and to raise the awareness of the benefits of occupational therapy telehealth services .
In the interim , ILOTA has persisted with other advocacy methods in soliciting information from recipients of telehealth via electronic surveys and recorded virtual interviews about their experiences with occupational therapy . During the interviews , recipients were asked to expand on these survey questions and discuss the value and access of the services they have received . The purpose of this article is to share with members , some of the highlights of what recipients across the lifespan reported as primary benefits of having received occupational therapy telehealth services . The primary benefits identified by recipients of occupational therapy telehealth services centered around increased access , efficiency and convenience , ease of translating treatment to real life context , and overall value . Many of these findings are reported in the literature and what is provided here are just some excerpts of survey or interview responses from family members and recipients with various conditions across the lifespan .
Access
“ It provides continuity for us so that my child can continue working through his therapy goals . Therapy also served as a good source of stability for routine during the pandemic .”
“ It has been really helpful not having to worry about exposing my son and being able to have OT in the comfort of our own home .”
“… equitable and available to every single family , no matter income level , no matter transportation issues , no matter the working schedule …”
“ The first time with in-person therapy , there were transportation issues and those were no longer a problem ”
Efficiency and Convenience
“ This [ telehealth ] literally could be a game changer for parents . And so the possibility for everybody to have access to amazing therapy is literally going to change our world . These kids are going to get services and abilities to do things that they wouldn ’ t have been able to do .”
“ I added two more hours to my day . So , I was more relaxed , I could do more exercises .”
“ In this crazy busy world that we live in , anything that we can do to allow people to have more time to live , and less time that they have to spend , overcoming difficulties to get basic services that will help them or help their children .”
“ Convenience is huge because when you schedule physical therapy or occupational therapy , there ’ s time restrictions and it doesn ’ t fit into your schedule .”
“ Teletherapy provided more time for me to do my exercises because I didn ’ t have to go out and I felt more confident and relaxed ”
Readily Incorporating Treatment into Real Life Context
“ I was able to realistically complete my therapy . I CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
1 Illinois Occupational Therapy Association | 2021 ISSUE 1