Telerehabilitation Delivery in Canada and the Netherlands: Results of a Survey Study.
Edward Giesbrecht, Mel E Major, Moni Fricke and 6 others
PMID 36806194WHAT IT FOUND
Most therapists in Canada and the Netherlands adopted telerehabilitation during the pandemic and plan to continue, despite feeling unprepared and facing technology issues.
Access to appropriate devices and confidence with the technology were the primary drivers of successful delivery.
Key findings
0190.1% of therapists currently providing telerehabilitation indicated they were likely to continue offering it after the pandemic.
02Technology issues were the most frequently reported barrier (89%), followed by the lack of physical touch required for services (62.3%).
03Only 28.1% of respondents reported receiving specific training on telerehabilitation delivery, with just 1.2% indicating this was part of their professional education.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample was heavily skewed toward Canadian respondents (92.1%), limiting the generalizability of findings to the Netherlands. Participation was voluntary and recruited through professional networks and social media, which may introduce selection bias toward therapists already comfortable with technology. Exercise therapists and dietitians had very low response rates and were excluded from comparative analyses. The study reports self-perceived satisfaction and confidence, which does not objectively measure the quality or efficacy of the care delivered.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret high satisfaction and intent to continue as evidence that telerehabilitation is clinically equivalent to in-person care. This study reports therapist perceptions and adoption rates, not patient outcomes or treatment efficacy.