From Hands to Words-Physiotherapists Experience of Delivering Online Exercise and Education for Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis

BACKGROUND: Little is known about delivering telehealth from a healthcare provider's perspective.

PURPOSE: To investigate physiotherapists' (PTs) experiences in delivering live online exercise and education for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

METHODS: This was a qualitative individual interview study with a thematic analysis approach. The interviewees were six PTs delivering 8 weeks of supervised online exercise and education for people with knee OA in secondary public care in Denmark.

RESULTS: The three main themes were (1) From hands to words-on the transition from on-site to on-line physiotherapy, (2) Online selection-on the perceived barriers to managing a telehealth service and (3) Therapeutic relation under pressure-on the contextual difficulties in building relationships and alliances in online classes.

CONCLUSION: The PTs in this study seemed to gradually come to terms with delivering first-line OA care online, appreciating advantages and new possibilities. PTs' initial apprehension towards this new form of physiotherapy service may be rooted in the traditional conception of physiotherapy as a predominantly manual profession but also in a lack of formal training in physiotherapy telehealth services. This study underlines the growing need for better and more formalised training in physiotherapy telehealth services to meet growing demands.