Let us have a quick recap on what teletherapy is about . It is basically similar to that of a face to face therapy but this time it is delivered via phone or video conference at the comforts participant’s home. Teletherapy can offer a wide variety of therapy services like speech therapy, psychology ,physiotherapy and even occupational therapy , what is good about it is that it caters all ages . This lessens stress, effort , time and energy and is way safer in terms of health. As this poses a lot of convenience to participants, some cannot help but ask the question- is it as effective and beneficial as oppose to the traditional mode of therapy? The efficiency can be best measured by the quality of the teletherapy. But how can someone determine the quality of the teletherapy delivered? This article will discuss determining factors for a guaranteed teletherapy.
Privacy and security
It is important that service providers will ensure privacy and security to the participants. Giving guarantee to the participant will help increase the level of confidence, trust and rapport of the participant to the therapist. Once a strong rapport and level of confidence are achieved, participant is willing to open up and participate during the entire course of the therapy. Therapists are expected to abide the Professional Code of Conduct ,Australian Privacy Principles , Federal Privacy Legislation and Jurisdictional Privacy Regulations. It is best practice that providers use encrypted servers and establish a multi step authentication to minimise or prevent loss of data.
Pre -checklist
Providing a pre checklist to a participant will greatly impact the quality of the teletherapy as this sets the tone of the teletherapy. This way, it will serve as the navigator for the entire duration of the teletherapy. It will also set expectations as to what will be covered, additional files needed or equipment needed and more like:
Main online app that will be used, back up app that will be used should there be any technical issues.
Support line for customer service in cases where technical issues are not addressed properly.
Equipment needed, space needed.
Medical information and any updates pertaining to the client.
Apps and tools that needed for note taking or instructions.
During teletherapy
It is important that the service provider will take time to discuss the patient’s expectations about the teletherapy, goals and priorities. These are crucial to ensure that the session is directed towards the participant’s pressing needs and concerns. It is also a good practice that the teletherapy is anchored towards the previous session as this will help keep track of the participant’s progress. Before the session ends, it is best that the participant is given the opportunity to ask questions, provide feedback about the session and of course simple activities a participant can practice at home in conjunction of the therapy.
Teletherapy offers a lot of convenience to everyone, and not doing face to face does not mean a depreciated quality of engagement. This puts weight to service providers out there but it will also be a great opportunity to showcase how agile and versatile their customer service is. No one can ever dictate nor claim which mode of therapy works , the ball lies on the hands of the participant as to which on best suits his or her interest.
Do you have an NDIS plan and you need help in accessing reliable service providers? Choose to be Plan Managed and access both NDIS registered and non registered service providers.
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