Telehealth Essay

Telehealth is the act of providing healthcare through the utilization of information/data processes and electric communication technology; it is used when a medical professional cannot meet with his or her patient due to distance related issues. The foremost goal of Telehealth is to ameliorate healthcare by delivering it to people who live in rural areas far away from a doctor, as well as mitigating expenditures for the patient. In addition, telehealth can eliminate social, cultural barriers, as well as stigmas when delivering health care. There are many tools/devices that are used for communication such as telephones, computers, fax machines, and interactive multimedia. Accordingly, through the equipment listed, Telehealth conveys patients’ healthcare data through telecommunication links via personal computer’s, imaging

apparatuses, and functional audio and video equipment. Moreover, the information is gathered and used for the diagnosis and remediation of patients. Telehealth has the potential to improve communication between the interprofessional team and overall positively influence patient care.
Boehm, Muehlberg, and Stube (2015) conducted a case report on a 70-year-old man with post-stroke fatigue (PSF) and the effectiveness of delivering occupational therapy services using telehealth. Individuals post-stroke have difficulty engaging in meaningful occupations; the symptoms influence the roles in their lives as a result of PSF (Boehm, Muehlberg, & Stube, 2015). Therefore, through a six-session course on managing fatigue and education on energy conservation methods, occupational therapists used telehealth in order to help the participant manage his post-stroke fatigue. As a result, the participant scored lower on the Fatigue and Impact Scale (FIM) indicating decreased perceived fatigued (Boehm, Muehlberg, & Stube, 2015). The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was used as the outcomes measure in the case study and administered to the participant through the phone. During the initial evaluation, the participant prioritized putting on compression socks, showering, cutting food, bowling, and golfing as areas of occupation important to him; he was experiencing decreased self-perceived performance and satisfaction for these occupations (Boehm, Muehlberg, & Stube, 2015). After the participant completed the course, he reported the same or improved performance and satisfaction scores in his prioritized areas of occupation (Boehm, Muehlberg, & Stube, 2015). What does this mean regarding the implications for occupational therapy using telehealth? Occupational therapy courses through telehealth has the potential to improve occupational participation outcomes for individuals and group settings. OT services through telehealth may be useful for delivering services regarding mindfulness and self-esteem, or for clients who have accessibility barriers to health care?
Personally, I have no experience with telehealth; however, as an occupational therapy student, I hope to use telehealth in an appropriate and meaningful way when working with clients in the future.
In conclusion, Telehealth is important for the communication between patients and health care providers.

In today’s world where everything is technology based, telehealth has changed healthcare in various ways. For instance, patients with congestive heart failure may use monitors in the home that have the ability to send updates of the patient’s weight, blood pressure, and other metrics to health care providers. Some facilities are able to treat more patients by having patient information and images uploaded and sent directly to the physicians (using a secure server) instead of physically seeing each patient. Telehealth also has the ability to assist patients adhere to their medication regimes using a wireless pill bottle that reminds patients to take their medications. These technologies become especially important in interprofessional care in order to maximize communication between the different disciplines. In addition, there are some intensive care units that have beds that are supported by the tele-ICU technology. This technology allows health care providers such as critical care nurses, to connect with patients via audio and visual

means.
Resources:
Boehm, N., Muehlberg, H., & Stube, J. E. (2015). Managing poststroke fatigue using telehealth: A case report. American Journal Of Occupational Therapy, 69(6), 1-7. doi:10.5014/ajot.2015.016170