Coordinated Telehealth for People with Parkinson’s Disease: A Qualitative Comparison of Providers’ and Patients’ Experiences

Telehealth increases access to allied healthcare in rural areas. People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) need improved access to health care, and from a patient-centered perspective, the coordination of their healthcare should be a priority. Four speech-language pathologists, two physical therapists, two pharmacists, and two study coordinators provided a coordinated allied healthcare intervention for people with PD in rural Wyoming and Nevada. Both the providers of the intervention, as well as the participants who received it, were interviewed about their experiences with the eight-week intervention and asked about aspects that were successful or unsuccessful. Through a naturalistic paradigm using a qualitative description design, we analyzed the opinions and experiences regarding delivering or receiving this eight-week intervention. We analyzed the interview transcripts searching for patterns and categories that emerged when participants described their experiences with either delivering or receiving this eight-week intervention. We analyzed the patient and provider data separately, identifying themes for both groups. We then conducted a qualitative comparison of the two sets of themes. Ultimately, this analysis resulted in four shared themes between the intervention participants and the intervention providers: Technology benefits: Convenience without losing connection; Technology challenges: Internet access and stability; Intervention benefits: Improved outcomes and increased PD knowledge; and Future considerations for the intervention: Asynchronous resources and internet/software enhancements. Despite some technology challenges, healthcare providers and participants found that coordinated telehealth is an effective and successful way to deliver speech-language therapy, physical therapy, and medication management to people with PD in rural locations.