Telehealth

Following a 3 meter fall from a rooftop, Geoffrey required post-operative recover assistance and accessed Albury Wodonga Health’s Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy Telehealth. Recovery involved an extensive exercise program, as Geoffrey had not only broken his ankle,
sternum and rib, but also tore his ankle ligaments and suffered a spinal fusion and right scalp haematoma.

“Following a visit to my home approximately one week after discharge from Albury Hospital, both the Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist, set me up with an exercise program using Telehealth.” Geoffrey explained.

“I found the Telehealth exercise programme to be excellent … and as my recovery progressed, the programme was modified as required”.

Geoffrey undertook weekly Telehealth sessions with Physiotherapist Lorraine O’Hare, and attributes his speedy recovery to her guidance and support.

When asked to comment on his experience, Geoffrey said he found Telehealth very easy to follow.

“The verbal and video instructions were succinct and demonstrative. In fact, I have ‘saved’ the exercises to my computer and I am doing the more advanced exercises on a daily basis.”

“On the whole, the Telehealth system, in my case, took away the need to ever physically attend the Wodonga Hospital. I highly recommend Telehealth to anyone- 10/10!!”

Monica attended Albury Wodonga Health’s virtual Pulmonary Rehabilitation sessions when the remaining component of the eight week program could not proceed in a face-to-face capacity due to COVID-19.

“Being able to participate in the virtual pulmonary rehabilitation education sessions not only helped me from an educational point of view, but  it also gave me the opportunity to be socially connected with others while at home during the COVID 19 pandemic” Monica explains.

Monica was given the choice of completing the sessions via Zoom or phone, and chose the latter. Monica praised the sessions on being well organised and informative.

“It was great! An excellent idea. I would recommend it to others.”

For Mannix (patient), accessing Telehealth meant that he could continue to attend sessions with Paediatric Speech Pathologist, Rachel McCann, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When COVID hit, it was great that we were able to keep up with these appointments via Telehealth, it was a fantastic way to keep him progressing. These appointments helped a lot as Rachel was able to see his progress and provide guidance as to where to go next” Mannix’s mother said.

She elaborated, explaining that the Telehealth system was easy to use, and being able to see Rachel on a consistent basis has significantly helped her son’s speech development.

“One of the great things has been increased availability of  Telehealth with Melbourne based health clinics. Our podiatrists in particular have been able to use Telehealth to connect with vascular clinics at a range of larger health services like St Vincent’s Hospital and The Alfred Hospital.
This has saved client travel and disruption, as well as allowed for a joint clinic review with our podiatry staff. A win-win all-round.”

Over the past few months Albury Wodonga Health’s Health Coordination Team has embedded the use of  Telehealth services into our daily lives – both in a personal and clinical capacity.

From a personal perspective, COVID-19 has led to many teams working electronically from home and away from the traditional work support systems. This meant we had to rapidly adopt new work processes, and find new means of digitally supporting each other, problem solving,
celebrating successes, sharing information and planning care delivery. It’s been amazing to see the team’s confidence in using Telehealth grow and, despite the occasional challenge, we have ultimately embraced Telehealth as the new normal.

In a clinical sense, Telehealth has allowed us to partner clients with local and interstate specialists, without needing to worry about the travel and associated costs to clients.

We have found that clients have really embraced the experience and, because of the positive uptake, we have chosen to expand our investment in Telehealth. This includes providing further education opportunities for our teams and strengthening our partnerships with other
health organisations to share information, key learnings and outcomes.

Overall our team’s experience has been positive, and we have acknowledged our growth in this area with celebrations, laughter, and focus on the fun learning experiences.