What exactly is telerehabilitation?  Telerehabilitation uses different forms of telecommunications technologies to facilitate the delivery of rehabilitation services at a distance.  Rehabilitation services are designed to help a person gain (or regain) physical, mental and/or cognitive abilities impaired by disease or injury.

How is telerehabilitation used and how does it add value? Telerehabilitation is a growing area and is being used by physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and more!  Making these services available at a distance has been particularly beneficial for patients and families who have difficulty receiving these type of services at hospitals, clinics and other facilities due to barriers related to transportation, distance and mobility.

What are some practical tips for helping me to get started?  Here are some great resources that we've curated for you!

• The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) Telerehabilitation Special Interest Group has developed Principles for Delivering Telerehabilitation Services.  This guide addresses general administrative, clinical, technical and ethical principles for implementing telerehabilitation services.  Below are resources more specific to particular service types/providers.
• The Great Plains Telehealth Resource & Assistance Center has developed a Tele-Rehab Toolkit.  This toolkit addresses the use of telehealth across professions of Physical Therapy (PT), Occupational Therapy (OT) and Speech Language Pathology (SLP).

Physical Therapy:

• The American Physical Therapy Association has put together Telehealth in Practice as well as an APTA Telehealth Certificate course.
• The Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy offers these Guidelines: Telehealth in Physical Therapy
• The Family, Infant and Preschool Program has put together this infographic for Physical Therapists on Tele-Move: I'm a PT, Don't Take My Hands Away From Me

Occupational Therapy:

• The American Occupational Therapy Association has put together:
  • Telehealth in Occupational Therapy Position Paper
  • Occupational Therapy Telehealth Decision Guide

They also have a large number of Telehealth Resources for members

• The Family, Infant and Preschool Program has put together this infographic for Occupational Therapists on Tele-Sense: Making Sense of Sensory Preferences

Telepractice/Telespeech:

• The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) has put together a number of resources on telepractice:
  • Telepractice as a Service Delivery Model
  • Telepractice Evidence Map
  • Telepractice Checklist for School-Based Professionals
  • Coaching Parents on Feeding Techniques Via Telepractice

• The Family, Infant and Preschool Program has put together this infographic on Tele-Speech: SLPs, Can We Talk? Our Virtual Role

Early Intervention Services:

• The Family, Infant and Preschool Program (FIPP)  has put together:
  • Early Childhood Intervention Telepractice, including links to a set of Tele-Practice Infographic and this Providing Early Intervention Services Through Distance Technology Video:

• The Infant and Toddler Connection of Virginia put together this Teleflections Video Series which provides reflections from Virginia early intervention service providers on tele-intervention:
  • Teleflections Video 1 – My First Online Visit
  • Teleflections Video 2 – Tele-What?!
  • Teleflections Video 3 - Bandwidths, Platforms, and Pings?? Help!
  • Teleflections Video 4 - I'm a PT and Rely on my Hands
  • Teleflections Video 5 – Woke Up Worried
  • Teleflections Video 6 - Mom was Over the Moon
  • Teleflections Video 7 - Update from Julie
  • Teleflections Video 8: Getting Creative in Rural Areas

• The National Center for Hearing Assessment and Managementhas put together A Practical Guide to the Use of Tele-Intervention in Providing Early Intervention Services to Infants and Toddlers Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

• Family Voices received 2020 CARES Act funds to develop a host of resources to support telehealth for families of children with Special Health Care Needs.  Visit their website to see training resources, toolkits and more.