Pediatric Telerehabilitation: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go Next?

Traditional in person rehabilitation typically occurs in a clinic, school, home or community setting. Pediatric telerehabilitation, involves a clinician, child, and parent meeting via a secure videoconferencing platform for assessment or treatment.

Pediatric telerehabilitation surged to popularity during the global COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions on in-person visits. While COVID-19 precautions have subsided, pediatric telerehabilitation continues to be a practical and sustainable adjunct to in-person rehabilitation. However, telerehabilitation in pediatric physical therapy is understudied. As a result there are knowledge gaps. First, there is limited evidence for feasibility and efficacy of specific interventions and physical assessments, which we will address with preliminary data. Next, the contextual factors that impact intervention and outcomes and the roles and responsibilities of the therapist and parent are different than in the traditional rehabilitation setting. Frameworks for adult telerehabilitation may need adapted for pediatrics. Additionally, the home environment produces unique barriers (such as lack of adequate equipment) but also opportunities (such as clear visualization of the home setup and natural environment) for implementing rehabilitation.

This session is for researchers and clinicians who are interested in implementing pediatric telerehabilitation protocols. The first half of this session will focus on 1) clinical reasoning for choosing assessments to conduct via telehealth to measure changes due telerehabilitation intervention, 2) designing a telerehabilitation intervention, and 3) strategies to utilize the contextual factors inherent to telerehabilitation to optimize outcomes.

During the second half of the session, attendees will work in small groups to complete the tasks outlined in the proposed schedule.