Perceptions of Australian osteopaths on the use of telehealth for patient care: Barriers and enablers for implementation

Background

Telehealth is increasingly becoming a significant strategy for the delivery of healthcare in Australia in a wide range of professions. Recent physical distancing requirements were a catalyst for professions such as osteopathy (where the dominant care model is manual therapy) to make significant changes to adapt their approach for telehealth platforms.

Objective

To explore the perceptions of Australian osteopaths’ use of telehealth for patient care, and the associated barriers and enablers of its implementation.

Methods

The Theoretical Domains Framework informed the development of semi-structured interviews which were conducted with osteopaths. Transcriptions were analysed thematically.

Results

Nine osteopaths participated in semi-structured interviews. They described their beliefs about osteopathy and the challenge telehealth has posed to their professional identity as healthcare providers. Osteopaths described uses ranging from simply staying connected with patients, through to innovative ways to assess and teach patients how to self-treat and self-manage their conditions.

Conclusion

Enablers for the use of telehealth by participating osteopaths were face-to-face practice restrictions imposed during the pandemic lockdown and acknowledgement of the potential for telehealth to offer convenient and beneficial care, particularly for patients with limited access. Participating osteopaths who saw their value and self-worth as healthcare providers of manual therapy, and a lack of training in telehealth platforms, were major barriers to its uptake in osteopathic practice.