As the use of TeleHealth increases rapidly through necessity, arising from COVID-19, OccHealth by Altius Exercise Physiologist, Jack Whitaker, shares his knowledge of this mode of service delivery.
TeleHealth services have existed for years. OccHealth by Altius has successfully treated many individuals through this service over a number of years – with many positive results to show for it.
TeleHealth has and will continue to be an integral mode of our service delivery. We have demonstrated through positive outcomes that video conferencing is able to provide personalised support to clients in normalising their activities, promoting better health and wellbeing, building functional tolerances and increasing fitness for work.
TeleHealth isn’t simply just a telephone call talking to an individual about their current situation. TeleHealth, delivered through secure video conferencing, allows health professionals to diagnose, provide treatment, offer education and progress an individual’s recovery journey – all from the comfort of their own home. TeleHealth delivers benefits to individuals, including:
- Reduced waiting times to see a health professional
- Removes the need to travel
- A more personalised approach to rehabilitation
- Removing any geographical restrictions for health professionals
Despite having a range of benefits, TeleHealth does have its disadvantages:
- Video consultations may not be exactly the same as a face-to-face consult.
- There may be some technical problems that affect the quality of the video.
- Although the digital platform used should meet the recommended standards to protect the privacy and security of the video and data, this cannot guarantee total protection from outsiders – the risk is small but does exist
At OccHealth by Altius, TeleHealth operates as a service delivery method that works occurring alongside our face-to-face options. Through TeleHealth, the OccHealth by Altius approach to rehabilitation doesn’t change nor does the education. The success and effectiveness of our TeleHealth services stems from addressing the same foundation elements as would be addressed with face-to-face service delivery.
Foundation Elements
1. Customer Trust
2. Personal goals
3. Collaboration
4. Health and Wellbeing Literacy
5. Positive Behaviour Change
6. Community Engagement
7. Psychosocial Risk Identification and Reduction
8. RTW and Upgrading Capacity
9. Self-Efficacy and Confidence
Being Exercise Physiologists, people naturally associate us with prescribing exercise and yes, we do this and do it well. However, supporting individuals to realise their health potential goes far beyond just exercise, particularly when treating those with compensable injuries.
Whether by face to face or TeleHealth consultations, OccHealth by Altius’ commitment to being proactive in addressing all the Foundation Elements, provide us the best opportunity to successfully support our clients through their recovery journey.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic, our TeleHealth service offering has increased significantly, however our proactive approach and successful outcomes have continued. We have continued to support individuals not only return to work on pre-injury duties, but also upgrade work capacity, obtain new employment, improve confidence, re-engage in the community, increase completion of ADLs, reduce psychosocial barriers, improve independence and increase their wellbeing and quality of life.
Rest assured, with TeleHealth services from OccHealth by Altius, you will receive the same proactive approach, same service, same delivery, same collaboration, same build-up of trust, and same positive outcomes, as you have seen for the past 23 years.
Whether individuals are serviced through TeleHealth or face-to-face, they will be provided with the OccHealth by Altius’ approach to rehabilitation that has proven to work, time and time again.
Read our Case Study, highlighting the recovery journey of one of our client’s participating in RAWI Remote conducted via TeleHealth in returning to pre-injury duties after an injury that occurred over 3 years ago.
