Capabilities for Using Telemonitoring in Physiotherapy Treatment: A Qualitative Study among Physiotherapy Lecturers

This study aims to identify the capabilities required to use TM in physiotherapy treatment.

An exploratory qualitative study was conducted following a constructivist semi-structured grounded theory approach. Three heterogeneous focus groups were conducted with 15 lecturers of the School of Physiotherapy (BSc.) from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Focus group discussions were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Capabilities for using TM in physiotherapy treatment were identified during an iterative process of data collection and analysis, based on an existing framework with four different domains. Team discussions supported further conceptualization of the findings.

Sixteen capabilities for the use of TM in physiotherapy treatment were found addressing three different domains. Four capabilities were identified in the ‘digital health technologies, systems, and policies’ domain, seven capabilities in the ’clinical practice and application’ domain and five in the ‘data analysis and knowledge creation’ domain. No capabilities were identified in the ‘system and technology implementation’ domain.

The use of TM in physiotherapy treatment requires specific capabilities. To best utilize TM in physiotherapy treatment, it is important to integrate these capabilities into the education of current and future physiotherapists.

Based on the capabilities identified in this study, we propose two new competencies for general physiotherapists within their role of healthcare provider, with a specific focus on the use of TM during physiotherapy treatment[41]. First, it is necessary for physiotherapists to adequately instruct their patients on how to collect continuous data, while being able to recognize both normal and deviating measurements. An integrative approach to contextual factors and TM data is fundamental to this process since it allows physiotherapists and patients to correlate clinical and TM data and evaluate treatment outcomes. Second, physiotherapists must be attuned to patients’ needs and skills required to receive digital treatment. This will allow them to enhance their patients' digital health skills and promote patients' self-efficacy empowerment by informing them about the use and implementation of TM as part of individualized treatment.