Low Vision Patients’ and Providers’ Satisfaction with Telerehabilitation

Low Vision Patients’ and Providers’ Satisfaction with Telerehabilitation

Purpose: A recent systematic review found no publications with results on the topic of telerehabilitation for low vision (LV). Our goal was to develop and evaluate components to deliver LV telerehabilitation services. Methods: Three LV providers conducted telerehabilitation sessions from their office with eight visually-impaired adults in their homes. Subjects received a hand-held magnification device for reading, and self-reported difficulty with returning for a follow-up at their provider's office. We obtained providers’ ratings for the use of hardware devices (i.e., iPad and Android tablets) and commercially available, HIPAA compliant, secure videoconference software (zoom.us) during telerehabilitation sessions at which subjects received training on magnifier use for reading.Results: All subjects agreed they were comfortable receiving telerehabilitation and being

evaluated via videoconferencing. Three-quarters of subjects reported their hand-held magnifier use improved after the session. Providers reported little difficulty with evaluating subjects’ reading speed, reading accuracy and working distance. Video quality was rated from excellent to good by both the providers and subjects, but audio quality was reduced for some due to poor signal strength and use of Android tablets. All except one subject had never used videoconferencing prior to our study, and three (38%) had never used the Internet. Conclusions: Positive feedback from the participants and providers in this pilot study supports the feasibility and potential value of LV telerehabilitation.Support: Envision Research Institute. Disclosure: None.