Roles Caregivers Take on in Pediatric Rehabilitation Telehealth Services: A Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND

Caregivers and children continue to use pediatric rehabilitation telehealth services (PRTS) post-pandemic. Understanding how caregivers support children during PRTS can help us fully integrate caregivers for positive outcomes. This scoping review describes the roles caregivers take on during PRTS.

METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and ERIC for research published January 2005 to July 2023. We included English articles on the effect of PRTS. We excluded qualitative and non-peer-reviewed literature.

RESULTS

Thirty-four articles met inclusion criteria. Caregivers were gatekeepers, technicians, implementers, trainees, collaborators, telehealth consumers, and supervisors in PRTS. Caregivers took on roles throughout PRTS, and roles varied by type of PRTS delivered.

CONCLUSIONS

Caregivers take on multiple roles to support children during PRTS. Our results can inform clinical decisions about how to integrate and support caregivers in PRTS. Future research should explore strategies that support caregiver role taking to maximize caregiver involvement and outcomes in PRTS.