Date of Completion

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy

Keywords

Telerehabilitation, Physical Therapists

Abstract

For the past two (2) consecutive years, social isolation has been one of the strategies being done across the country to contain the spread of the COVID-19 (Alpalhão, V. & Alpalhão, M., 2020). In response, Philippine government has ordered lockdowns, quarantine and social distancing as precautions and solutions to flatten the curve of the pandemic. However, the result of the pandemic greatly affects healthcare workers and physiotherapists in provision of rehabilitation services. The main purpose of this study is to explore the perception and willingness of the physical therapists in utilizing telerehabilitation in selected facilities in Cavite. The research design used in this study was exploratory descriptive qualitative approach. The respondents consisted of 10 physical therapists that currently work in facilities not offering telerehabilitation within Cavite. The researchers used a semi-structured one-on-one interview as a method for data collection. Triangulation was also utilized through the validation of themes and member checking to ensure that the information gathered was valid and credible. Nine major themes emerged: Personal competency, Technological Infrastructure, Preference in service delivery, Patient-derived factors, Weaknesses of telerehabilitation, Strengths of telerehabilitation, Patient related factors, Physical therapy related factors, and Admin related factors. Based on the gathered and analyzed data, physical therapists recognized telerehabilitation as an effective supplement to face-to-face

rehabilitation with a great value in the field of physical therapy; however, certain factors are being taken into account, causing their perception to be inconsistent. Therefore, it is important to further explore these factors to make telerehabilitation more established as a means of delivering rehabilitation services. Furthermore, factors that affect the physical therapists’ willingness include patient, physical therapy, and administrative related factors. These are further composed of different components which negatively and positively affect willingness in the utilization of telerehabilitation. Therefore, it is necessary to make ways to eliminate the barriers and enhance telerehabilitation facilitators considering that the physical therapists are willing to utilize telerehabilitation despite the factors identified. This could further improve the acceptance of physical therapists with the use of telerehabilitation thereby adding to the choice treatment delivery and making physical therapy more readily available and accessible.

First Advisor

Ram Janzen C. Fauni

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