TY  - JOUR
AU  - van Westerhuis, Charlotte
AU  - Sanders, Astrid F
AU  - Aarden, Jesse J
AU  - Major, Mel E
AU  - de Leeuwerk, Marijke E
AU  - Florisson, Nadine
AU  - Wijbenga, Miriam H
AU  - van der Schaaf, Marike
AU  - van der Leeden, Marike
AU  - van Egmond, Maarten A
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/10/24
TI  - Capabilities for Using Telemonitoring in Physiotherapy Treatment: Exploratory Qualitative Study
JO  - JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol
SP  - e56432
VL  - 11
KW  - telemedicine
KW  - telemonitoring
KW  - technology
KW  - physical therapy modalities
KW  - education
KW  - physiotherapist
KW  - physiotherapy
KW  - telehealth
AB  - Background: Telemonitoring (TM), as part of telehealth, allows physiotherapists to monitor and coach their patients using remotely collected data. The use of TM requires a different approach compared with face-to-face treatment. Although a telehealth capability framework exists for health care professionals, it remains unclear what specific capabilities are required to use TM during physiotherapy treatments. Objective: This study aims to identify the capabilities required to use TM in physiotherapy treatment. Methods: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted following a constructivist semistructured grounded theory approach. Three heterogeneous focus groups were conducted with 15 lecturers of the School of Physiotherapy (Bachelor of Science Physiotherapy program) 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 4 different domains. Team discussions supported further conceptualization of the findings. Results: Sixteen capabilities for the use of TM in physiotherapy treatment were found addressing 3 different domains. Four capabilities were identified in the “digital health technologies, systems, and policies” domain, 7 capabilities in the “clinical practice and application” domain, and 5 capabilities in the “data analysis and knowledge creation” domain. No capabilities were identified in the “system and technology implementation” domain. Conclusions: The use of TM in physiotherapy treatment requires specific skills from physiotherapists. To best use TM in physiotherapy treatment, it is important to integrate these capabilities into the education of current and future physiotherapists. 
SN  - 2369-2529
UR  - https://rehab.jmir.org/2024/1/e56432
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/56432
DO  - 10.2196/56432
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/56432
ER  -