The project, administered by the Celeste Foundation, was based on established and empirically driven early intervention principles and enrolled families who had a child between the ages of 2-5 diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Their involvement began with a brief stay at the National Institute of Telehealth (NIT) in Mt. Dora, Florida, for intensive program development. While at the NIT, the families were introduced to a multidisciplinary team of professionals that included behavior analysts, speech pathologists, special educators and clinical psychologists. The families learned strategies and techniques to foster their child’s behavioral, social, communicative, and adaptive skills. They then returned home with both a plan for services and Cnow technology that provided them a link between their home and the team of professionals who coached them in Mt. Dora. The question, and hope, was that the access to professional support via this video link would help families better interact with their children.
The specific questions posed by this research were:
-
Do services delivered remotely via telehealth technologies offer direct therapeutic benefits to children with autism, as measured by the ability of caregivers to meet established objectives and by the levels of satisfaction attested by the families?
-
Can telehealth services provide satisfactory support to reduce family stress by enhancing parent skills and access to consultation and training?
-
Do telehealth applications represent a cost effective means for providing therapeutic services for children with autism and their families?
The results of this effort were positive and encouraging. Via the interactive video medium, professionals were able to provide in-home, services to each of the 15 families enrolled at a rate of 8-16 hours per week, with little or no technological or programmatic limitations. In all, over 4,000 telehealth consultations have took place. During these interactions, the professionals and families were able to collaborate on objectives such as language acquisition, food selection, toilet training, engagement, communication, and sleep protocols. Satisfaction surveys completed by both the professionals and family members indicated tremendous satisfaction rates with using this medium to deliver services. Data also indicates a reduction in family stress and improvements in their perception of their quality of life. Most importantly, very significant child gains were achieved during the research period: 70% of children with toileting protocols were successfully potty-trained, over 200 new words were acquired, and over 100 new foods preferences were achieved. This project strongly pointed to the promise and potential of telehealth technologies in serving children with special needs in ways not previously realized.
Watch a two-part news feature about this exciting project: KMEG1 and KMEG2
Previously, Cnow conducted federal research in support of a telehealth project sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services (Administration on Children, Youth and Families) that examined the efficiency of using interactive video as a means for providing services to foster children with severe emotional and behavioral challenges. The three-year project tested the effectiveness of the medium in providing the following range of services:
• Behavior Analysis
• Case management
• Medical Services
• Psychiatric Services
• Support to Education
• Caregiver training
The findings of the research project demonstrated that the technology satisfied both the standards of practice of the professionals and the needs and expectations of the persons receiving telehealth services at rates exceeding 90%.
State Research
In 2000, the Florida Department of Children and Families, Florida’s umbrella human service agency commissioned a research project to examine the concept of providing telehealth services in support of individuals with developmental disabilities. Cnow managed all of the technological and administrative activities for the project, which also indicated rates of professional satisfaction exceeding 90% in using this medium to provide specialized services.
|
