Association of Caribbean Occupational Therapist
ACOT POSITION STATEMENT: Use of Telehealth during COVID-19
In this time of COVID-19 and social distancing practices, many occupational therapists (OTs) across the region are looking to support their client’s therapy through alternative models of service delivery. One of these models is telehealth therapeutic services, which uses online video conferencing to facilitate distance intervention. The telehealth model is supported by the World federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) whose definition is as follows: “Telehealth is the use of information and communication technologies to deliver health related services when the provider and client are in different locations” (WFOT, Telehealth Position statement, 2014). WFOT concludes that “telehealth can be an appropriate service delivery model for therapists, and may improve access to occupational therapy services for clients” (WFOT, Telehealth Position statement, 2014). OT's across the Caribbean remain committed to their clients and may wish to provide interventions , where informed consent is gained, through videoconferencing technologies, telephone conversations, recorded video, digital photographs, electronic communication, recorded data from monitoring devices, etc. The Association of the Caribbean Occupational Therapists (ACOT) is in full support of the WFOT's position statement on the use of telehealth as an effective means of service delivery.
ACOT remain dedicated to supporting our therapists regionally and will be providing resources on telehealth and beyond, in the coming weeks. We are committed to continuing to provide Caribbean citizens with occupational therapy services that they need.
References
World Federation of Occupational Therapists. (2014). Telehealth [Position Statement]. Retrieved from https://www.wfot.org/resources/telehealth.
12th May 2020 ACOT EXECUTIVE Archive: #212001
In this time of COVID-19 and social distancing practices, many occupational therapists (OTs) across the region are looking to support their client’s therapy through alternative models of service delivery. One of these models is telehealth therapeutic services, which uses online video conferencing to facilitate distance intervention. The telehealth model is supported by the World federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) whose definition is as follows: “Telehealth is the use of information and communication technologies to deliver health related services when the provider and client are in different locations” (WFOT, Telehealth Position statement, 2014). WFOT concludes that “telehealth can be an appropriate service delivery model for therapists, and may improve access to occupational therapy services for clients” (WFOT, Telehealth Position statement, 2014). OT's across the Caribbean remain committed to their clients and may wish to provide interventions , where informed consent is gained, through videoconferencing technologies, telephone conversations, recorded video, digital photographs, electronic communication, recorded data from monitoring devices, etc. The Association of the Caribbean Occupational Therapists (ACOT) is in full support of the WFOT's position statement on the use of telehealth as an effective means of service delivery.
ACOT remain dedicated to supporting our therapists regionally and will be providing resources on telehealth and beyond, in the coming weeks. We are committed to continuing to provide Caribbean citizens with occupational therapy services that they need.
References
World Federation of Occupational Therapists. (2014). Telehealth [Position Statement]. Retrieved from https://www.wfot.org/resources/telehealth.
12th May 2020 ACOT EXECUTIVE Archive: #212001