Best Practices for Building Interprofessional Telehealth: Report of a Conference

Lynda B Ransdell; M Elizabeth Greenberg; Emi Isaki; Alan Lee; Janet P Bettger; Goris Hung; Amy Gelatt; Ambur Lindstrom-Mette; Jana Cason

doi:10.5195/ijt.2021.6434

Best Practices for Building Interprofessional Telehealth: Report of a Conference

Int J Telerehabil. 2021 Dec 16;13(2):e6434. doi: 10.5195/ijt.2021.6434. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Lynda B Ransdell¹, M Elizabeth Greenberg², Emi Isaki², Alan Lee³, Janet P Bettger⁴, Goris Hung⁵, Amy Gelatt², Ambur Lindstrom-Mette⁶, Jana Cason⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Health and Human Sciences, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois, USA.
² Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles, California, USA.
⁴ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University, School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
⁵ Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
⁶ University of Arizona, College of Nursing, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
⁷ Auerbach School of Occupational Therapy, Spalding University, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

Abstract

The Arizona Biomedical Research Centre (ABRC) has funded a series of workshops and conferences since 2016 to build the capacity of local, tribal, and state agencies, healthcare delivery organizations, and non-governmental organizations to engage in meaningful research related to health disparities. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telehealth has dramatically increased, particularly in nursing, occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech-language pathology (SLP). The purpose of this paper is to summarize the presentations and discussion from the conference titled "Telerehabilitation and Telepractice: An Interprofessional Conference to Build Connections and Best Practices," held remotely on March 4-5, 2021. Terminology and concepts from the conference were debated, modified, and refined, based on an interprofessional audience. Presenters at the conference, all leaders in their field, discussed the current status of telehealth in their professions, including best practices, challenges, future trends, and research needs.

Keywords: Future implications; Nursing; Occupational therapy; Physical therapy; Speech-language pathology; Telemedicine; Telepractice.