Specialists from the National Rehabilitation Institute (INR) will carry out remote diagnoses to bring this type of service closer to remote or difficult-to-access areas.
The INR is developing a telerehabilitation program so that patients receive physical and occupational therapy services without the need for long transfers to medical units. This strategy seeks equitable access to rehabilitation services, especially for people who do not have the resources to pay for transfers to medical centers, because they live in remote locations.
Patients go through a protocol to determine their eligibility for the telerehabilitation program. These actions will be carried out by the INR Physical Therapy Service. The coordinator of the program, Claudia Pescina Ocádiz, explained that the program will start in September of this year.
Through technological devices, INR specialists and therapists will evaluate and review the progress of patients remotely, while continuing to collaborate with specialists who care for patients in person in their locality.
The program will have audiovisual support material such as video tutorials on physical and occupational therapy. The first videos will be focused on physical therapy for people with neurological sequelae. “It was decided to start with the rehabilitation of these people, since their recovery requires long periods of time and it is a factor for which they abandon treatment”, explained Pescina Ocádiz.
The director of this program also explained that between 2020 and 2021, the INR has performed more than 108,000 physical and pulmonary therapies and more than 50,000 occupational therapy sessions. Hence the importance of developing projects that decentralize this type of service and extend its access to more patients remotely.
