Iacono Teresa, Dissanayake Cheryl, Trembath David, Hudry Kristelle, Erickson Shane, Spong Jo
Living with Disability Research Centre, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC Australia.
Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC Australia.
Stud Health Technol Inform. 2016;231:63-73.
Telehealth offers the potential to address inequalities in autism service access for young children living in regional and rural areas with limited access to autism specialists. Our aim was to explore parent and practitioner uses of technology, and views about telehealth, including perceived barriers, for autism early intervention service delivery in a regional town in Australia. Fifteen mothers and 19 front-line autism practitioners completed surveys distributed by local autism service and support providers in the regional town; eight front-line practitioners from one service participated in interviews. Mothers and practitioners had access to technology that could be used for video-communication, but had little or no experience with telehealth. Mothers appeared more willing to try telehealth for receiving autism services than practitioners appeared to believe, and practitioners preferred to use it for consulting with other professionals and professional development. Barriers to telehealth included limited experience and practitioners not knowing what a telehealth service would look like, poor access to reliable and high speed internet, lack of skill and technical supports, and practitioners believing families preferred face-to-face services. The success of telehealth in this regional town will rely on better infrastructure, and upskilling practitioners in evidence-based autism interventions so they can provide the required support remotely. Use of telehealth to upskill practitioners in evidence-based practice could provide a first step in ensuring equitable access to expert autism services to regional and rural families.
远程医疗为居住在偏远和农村地区、难以接触到自闭症专家的幼儿解决自闭症服务获取方面的不平等问题提供了可能性。我们的目的是探讨家长和从业者对技术的使用情况，以及他们对远程医疗的看法，包括在澳大利亚一个地区城镇提供自闭症早期干预服务时所感知到的障碍。15位母亲和19名一线自闭症从业者完成了由该地区城镇当地自闭症服务和支持提供者分发的调查问卷；来自一个服务机构的8名一线从业者参与了访谈。母亲和从业者能够使用可用于视频通信的技术，但对远程医疗几乎没有或完全没有经验。母亲们似乎比从业者认为的更愿意尝试通过远程医疗接受自闭症服务，而从业者则更倾向于将其用于与其他专业人员咨询和专业发展。远程医疗的障碍包括经验有限以及从业者不知道远程医疗服务会是什么样子、难以获得可靠的高速互联网、缺乏技能和技术支持，以及从业者认为家庭更喜欢面对面服务。在这个地区城镇，远程医疗的成功将依赖于更好的基础设施，以及提高从业者在基于证据的自闭症干预方面的技能，以便他们能够远程提供所需的支持。利用远程医疗提高从业者在循证实践方面的技能，可能是确保偏远和农村家庭公平获得专家自闭症服务的第一步。
