Training Intervention and Program of Support (TIPS): Fostering Family-centred Telehealth in Pediatric Rehabilitation

Timely access to family-centred services for children with disability and their families is important to support their development and well-being. Currently, many children face long wait times and barriers to services. Lack of access can lead to negative impacts for children and stress for their families. With the COVID-19 pandemic, these issues have been made more challenging with the loss of rehabilitation support for children, increasing stress on families. During this time, therapists moved to telehealth service delivery to support children and families. We know that telehealth can improve access to services, children's outcomes, and family satisfaction, and that telehealth a key element of Family Centred Services (FCS) in pediatric rehabilitation. FCC include practices that promote flexibility, respect and dignity for families' views, knowledge and strengths, effective information sharing, partnership and collaboration in decision making, and coordinated and comprehensive care. FCC focuses on developing collaborative family-provider relationships, where parents are active participants in collaborative goal-setting, therapy planning, implementation, and evaluation, and where activities are integrated within daily routines and contexts (e.g., home and community). Compared to traditional service delivery methods, telehealth offers opportunities to enhance FCC practices. FCC provides alternate, convenient, and flexible ways to partner with families, respecting their characteristics and barriers, allows knowledge and information sharing about the child within their contexts, supports family decision making and parents' well-being, and has been recognized as an important addition to comprehensive care coordination and service delivery. Telehealth is an important and effective alternative for families living in both urban and remote or underserved areas and can be more convenient than in-person visits (e.g., less travel time, schedule flexibility). However, the use