Spot Therapy Hub provides Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy services. We have found that Telehealth has been more accepted in speech therapy since people can easily imagine using it for communication skills because you can still hear and see someone. Visual and pictorial communication is also easy to use through the screen for non-verbal communication.

But what about physical activities like fine motor, gross motor, vestibular and movement based goals?
How can you build rapport with kids who are dysregulated?
How can you work on co-regulation and relationship based interventions when you’re not physically there with the child?

Telehealth is evidence based and effective in building rapport with people of all ages.

Benefits to Telehealth

• Saves on travel time
• Enables the therapist to be in the client’s social and physical environment. While the therapist is not physically there, they now have a window into that environment and that is something that can be really useful in occupational therapy where it’s all about managing function in a person’s environment.
• Clients may be prompted to bring up things to therapy from being in their functional, day-to-day environment.

• Adults with mental health issues may feel more comfortable using Zoom or phone calls to access mental health support when talking about deeply personal issues.
• Telehealth makes home visits more accessible.
• People living in rural and remote location will have access to more therapists so they can choose who they feel is the right fit for them. They aren’t just restricted to their local services.
• It enables people to have more choice. A core goal of private practice is to support advocacy and autonomy, principles strongly promoted by the NDIS.
• Telehealth creates more flexibility and availability in choosing type of therapist, frequency of services and time of day for a service.
• Some kids, particularly those with neurodiversity may also be more engaged in tele-therapy. There are lots of fun activities and games available through Telehealth. Some clients at Spot didn’t want to transition back to face-to-face after accessing telehealth therapy!

• Telehealth can help us focus more on relationships. We can work with children but also parents through parent training and coaching.
• Training is providing education and transferring knowledge.
• Coaching is more client led, it serves to support parents when situations or challenges arise, to apply knowledge for problem-solving and developing the skills for this application.
• Coaching and training can be powerful, using real life opportunities and in the real context, which Telehealth allows.

This means that therapists can draw upon the resources in an individual or families’ real life home environment or community. Within that setting, there is greater potential for therapists and families to problem solve together and to work collaboratively. This set up allows therapists and families to reflect on routines, physical environments and social environments. It is easier to think about ‘what do we do in here?’ and ‘do we have successful or challenging moments?’ and then reflect upon the factors that made this difficult (physical space, social space, timing etc). It lets the therapist see the social environment. Who are the people participating in the client’s daily activities and routines? How are they helping or hindering goal achievement? 

• Occupational therapy is not about fixing but helping people reflect about what went well. This can be powerful as a therapist can help people notice the positive things. OT also helps people reflect on what challenges came up. Thinking about why they arose, what have we learnt that could help, what new strategies could be used to face these challenges, etc. Reflection is a key OT tool to help people identify strengths and weaknesses in order to know which changes to initiate.
• As a child builds a relationship with a therapist, the therapy session becomes an external cue to think about mindfulness and reflection. Therapist-patient relationships are important because they help build context for new challenges that arise.
• Consistent therapy helps bring focus and perspective about what is meaningful, where you want to be and how we can help you get there
• Telehealth is an amazing resource to ensure consistent therapy is delivered and that therapist-patient relationship is maintained.
• Developmental regression and dysregulation has been apparent during this pandemic. It is important to focus on short term goals and being flexible with goals during the pandemic as the environment is changing with new challenges everyday. Think about week to week achievements as celebrating the short term goals is important.

• Some families may be feeling apprehensive, especially if they’re at the start of the therapy journey and are thinking about how to access services. It’s important to be open to telehealth and give it a try. It could well be fantastic and really really powerful. It may not be exactly the same as face to face but it doesn’t mean it’s not as good, it’s just different.
• Kids grow and they change overtime so if you’ve tried Telehealth in the past and it didn’t work, it doesn’t mean it won’t work now. Telehealth can be a better fit at different ages and stages.
• Even if Telehealth feels different, it’s not a bad thing. There are many positives to staying connected with a therapist using relationships as a conduit for wellbeing and development.
• Be open to telehealth – you may be pleasantly surprised! (We have a lot of positive testimonials!).

If you are interested in Telehealth services with Spot Therapy Hub, please contact us on spottherapyhub@gmail.com or (02) 9326 6000. Please check out our other resources – Instagram and Blogs availabile on www.spottherapyhub.com.au/blog