Davies Luke, Lawford Belinda J, Chan Cliffton
School of Primary and Allied Health Care Monash University Victoria Australia.
Department of Health Sciences Macquarie University Sydney Australia.
Health Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 21;7(4):e2067. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.2067. eCollection 2024 Apr.
Provision of physiotherapy services using telehealth has drastically increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to be utilized in clinical practice suggesting telehealth in physiotherapy will become common practice. Prior research has explored the attitudes of physiotherapists with many years of in-person clinical experience toward telehealth. However, little is known about the emerging workforce's attitudes. This study aims to explore physiotherapy students' attitudes toward the use of telehealth in clinical practice.
A cross-sectional online survey of physiotherapy students enrolled in the Doctor of Physiotherapy program at Macquarie University between November 2022 and February 2023. Participants rated their level of agreement across 11 statements regarding telehealth use in physiotherapy clinical practice using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from "" to "." Participants answered two open-ended questions regarding when they might use telehealth in clinical practice as a physiotherapist and why they believe physiotherapists might be reluctant to use telehealth in clinical practice.
A total of 118 participants completed the survey (response rate 53%). Overall, most participants believed telehealth would continue being offered post-Covid-19 (86%, = 101), participants would use some form of telehealth in clinical practice (82%, 96), believe a blended approach would be beneficial for patients (84%, = 99), and were interested in further training in telehealth (90%, = 107). We identified six broad themes, including accessibility, subsequent consultations, inability to provide manual therapies, limited training/education, perceived ineffectiveness, and digital literacy of the patient.
Overall physiotherapy students believe telehealth will continue being offered in clinical practice, form part of contemporary physiotherapy practice, and are interested in further training to upskill in the delivery of care via telehealth. Given the continued use and students' demand for future training, it may be time to reimagine the inclusion of telehealth education and training in the entry-level physiotherapy curriculum.
自新冠疫情以来，使用远程医疗提供物理治疗服务的情况急剧增加，并且在临床实践中仍在持续使用，这表明物理治疗中的远程医疗将成为常见做法。先前的研究探讨了具有多年面对面临床经验的物理治疗师对远程医疗的态度。然而，对于新进入该行业的人员的态度却知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨物理治疗专业学生对在临床实践中使用远程医疗的态度。
对2022年11月至2023年2月在麦考瑞大学攻读物理治疗博士学位的物理治疗专业学生进行了一项横断面在线调查。参与者使用从“ ”到“.”的5点李克特量表，对11条关于在物理治疗临床实践中使用远程医疗的陈述的同意程度进行评分。参与者回答了两个开放式问题，即作为物理治疗师，他们在临床实践中可能何时使用远程医疗，以及他们认为物理治疗师在临床实践中可能不愿使用远程医疗的原因。
共有118名参与者完成了调查（回复率为53%）。总体而言，大多数参与者认为新冠疫情后远程医疗仍将继续提供（86%，即101人），参与者会在临床实践中使用某种形式的远程医疗（82%，即96人），认为混合方式对患者有益（84%，即99人），并且对远程医疗的进一步培训感兴趣（90%，即107人）。我们确定了六个广泛的主题，包括可及性、后续咨询、无法提供手法治疗、培训/教育有限、感知到的无效性以及患者的数字素养。
总体而言，物理治疗专业学生认为远程医疗将在临床实践中继续提供，成为当代物理治疗实践的一部分，并且对通过远程医疗提供护理的进一步培训以提升技能感兴趣。鉴于远程医疗的持续使用以及学生对未来培训的需求，可能是时候重新考虑将远程医疗教育和培训纳入物理治疗入门课程了。
