Authors (including presenting author) :
KWOK WY(1), LAU YK(1), WONG KK(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Occupational Therapy Department, United Christian Hospital
Introduction :
Under the influence of COVID-19 epidemic in early 2020, the HA hospitals have escalated to the emergency response level. In order to reserve more resources to combat the pandemic, non-emergency service such as outpatient service was advised to be trimmed down. On the other hand, patients also expressed concerns on visiting hospital due to the pandemic. So we started to explore if TELE-CARE can be an alternative way to continue occupational therapy (OT) service and what type of patient is more applicable. We identify one of the largest service volume in our outpatient team to start with – Cumulative Trauma Disorders (CTD).
Objectives :
To test the feasibility and patient acceptance of using telephone call and Google Form questionnaire to monitor patient’s progress, identify needs for early follow-up and to prevent deterioration of patient’s condition
Methodology :
Initial face-to-face consultation with hands-on assessment and splint fabrication cannot be replaced by TELE-CARE. As usual, patients still attend the first consultation with treatment provided but subsequent follow up (FU) was done through TELE. Patient’s consent for TELE-FU was obtained during the initial consultation.
Patients with suitable electronic device (e.g. smart phone) were allocated into the Google Form (GF) group. They would receive a hyperlink via WhatsApp to access to a google form questionnaire with a designated case number. They are advised to complete the questionnaire concerning their progress, treatment compliance and any adverse effect happened after receiving treatment. The questionnaire would be reviewed by OT within one-week to determine if earlier FU is indicated or not. If no reply of questionnaire within one-week, OT would make telephone call to patients to FU on their progress. Patients without suitable electronic device were allocated into the Telephone group. They would receive a telephone FU call from OT within 4 weeks with the same questionnaire used in GF group.
Result & Outcome :
From April to August 2020, a total of 180 patients were recruited into the TELE-CARE program with 102 patients allocated in the GF group, and 78 patients allocated in the Telephone group. A total of 200 TELE-FU attendances were done. The overall response rate of the GF group was about 60 %.
Patient’s feedback on the TELE-CARE program were positive. Some of them were hesitated to visit hospital frequently due to COVID-19 outbreak. They welcomed and preferred longer period of face-to-face consultation with TELE-FU in-between. They generally appreciated and were satisfied with the TELE-FU conducted by OTs in monitoring their condition and treatment compliance, and provide suitable remedial action when problems identified.
Conclusion:
TELE-FU using telephone call or google form questionnaire are both a feasible way for OT to assess patient’s progress, identify needs of early follow-up and to prevent deterioration of patient’s condition. Using GF can save therapist’s time in conducting TELE-FU with same effect and purpose achieved as using telephone call. It takes more therapist’s clinical time due to unreachable or missed calls. However, some patients reported they encountered some technical problems with accessing the GF questionnaire. The GF response rate will be more promising with more demonstration and practice adopted in the future. Ongoing exploration and expansion on the application of TELE-CARE in OT clinical practice is definitely a new way ahead.
