Authors (including presenting author) :
Choy PC(1), Leung YS(1), Liu YT(1), Ip WM(1), Lau M(1), Yue SY(1), Ng WL(2), Ding Q(2), Hui E(2)
Affiliation :
(1)Occupational Therapy Department, Shatin Hospital (2)Department of Medicine and Geriatrics, Shatin Hospital
Introduction :
Under the influence of COVID-19 pandemic, the service of Geriatric Day Hospital (GDH), Shatin Hospital was suspended. GDH launched a pilot program of tele-rehabilitation to maintain continuity of treatment. Four core Occupational Therapy (OT) service areas were identified consisting of: 1) home screening assessment and modification; 2) assistive device prescription and usage review; 3) ADL & cognitive assessment and home program; and 4) carer skills assessment and education.
Objectives :
to explore effectiveness of this mode of service and possibility of application
Methodology :
All GDH patients were recruited to the program. They were contacted in combination of phone call and mobile applications. Montreal Cognitive Assessment Hong Kong Version (HK-MoCA), Modified Barthel Index (MBI) & Lawton Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (Lawton IADL) were adopted as outcome measures before and after the program. Besides, all service users also completed OT tele-rehabilitation service satisfaction survey after the program.
Result & Outcome :
From March to June 2020, 139 patients received OT tele-rehabilitation. 109 patients completed the full sets of evaluation. Paired t-test was used for analysis. HK-MoCA scores increased from 16.9 to 17.8 (p< 0.001); MBI and Lawton IADL scores rose from 74.4 to 78.7 (p< 0.001) and from 3.1 to 3.4 (p< 0.001) respectively. Out of the 139 service users, 135 completed the OT service satisfaction survey. 64% of respondents agreed the tele-rehabilitation could improve or sustain their self-care ability. 62% agreed the service could help fall prevention and home safety. 96% of respondents agreed the tele-rehabilitation to be integrated into routine GDH services in future including home programme, home safety screening, assistive device prescription and follow up. In the survey, 61 respondents were caregivers, 33% of them expressed that their caring stress could be alleviated. Conclusion COVID-19 pandemic is a catalyst to speed up the application of tele-rehabilitation in GDH. OT gained experience on the effectiveness of this mode of service. Saving travelling time, allowing real-time assessment, promoting early screening and early intervention are remarkable advantages identified in the program. It could be embedded in GDH new normal service.
