Bringing therapy home: Exploring parents’ experiences of telehealth for children with developmental coordination disorder

Abstract

Introduction: Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) significantly impacts a child’s motor skills and ability to learn and perform self-care and academic tasks. Telehealth is a rapidly emerging service delivery model, ensuring expanded access to services and continuity of care. Many benefits to the use of telehealth have been identified; yet, there is a dearth of published evidence available on the experiences of parents of children with DCD. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore parents’ experiences of implementing a telehealth motor skills programme for their child with DCD. Method: This study utilised a qualitative descriptive approach to best capture parents’ experiences of a telehealth programme. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with eight participants and analysed using thematic analysis. Measures to ensure the trustworthiness of the study were observed within the naturalistic paradigm comprising criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. Findings: This study uncovered three major themes: (1) Parents in the dark, (2) telehealth in the family and (3) telehealth: what success looks like. Ten further subthemes highlighted the factors for success and parents’ considerations for future service delivery. Conclusion: Challenges for parents in accessing traditional occupational therapy services present an opportunity to explore alternative means of delivery such as telehealth. Parents, however, are clear in their preference for a blended approach for future services.