Telehealth is available for our weekly and intensive services
Telehealth at NAPA offers a flexible and effective way for families to access high-quality support, wherever they are. Telehealth is an online service for physical, occupational, and speech therapy via live video conferencing (utilising Microsoft Teams). The therapy sessions are conducted online and are facilitated by a licensed NAPA therapist. The therapist utilises a direct 1:1 interaction with the child and the child’s family and may use a combination of “coaching” methods. For example, using the parent to implement therapeutic strategies and techniques throughout the session.
What Telehealth Sessions are best utilised for
- Ongoing weekly therapy appointments (if assessment has been completed in clinic)
- Some intensive services (block therapy) if the child has been deemed suitable.
- Home Exercise Programme (HEP) follow-ups and post-intensive check-ins
- Equipment review/adjustment
- Carer education or linking with daycare/kinder or school educators
- Care team meetings
- Goals reviews with family
- Training and support for families purchasing equipment/modalities such as electrical stimulation units, Vibration plate, TheraTogs, etc.
- Rural and remote families seeking ongoing connection with NAPA or limited access to other therapies
- Families who value consistent touchpoints, continuity of care, and collaborative goal-focused therapy from home
For more information on what may be appropriate for Telehealth sessions for each discipline, please see the FAQ’s below. Our telehealth sessions run for a duration of 45 minutes. Part of your initial session may be comprised of a quick technical run-through to make sure parent and therapist devices are synced appropriately.
Who is telehealth suitable for?
Any child with current therapy goals will be eligible for Telehealth services at NAPA, however we see the strongest outcomes when families have engaged with NAPA in clinic, allowing our therapists to complete a face-to-face assessment and build a shared understanding of the child and family’s needs. For this reason, most clients are best supported with initial in-clinic sessions before transitioning to telehealth. In general, children must also have a current therapy evaluation on file, as Telehealth does not allow for performing evaluations. It is also required that the child has access to video platform via home table/computer/phone and that a parent/carer is present for the duration of the session.
Want more information?
If you are interested in starting telehealth services with us, please register your interest by completing this form and one of our team will be in contact with you if we have an appointment to suit your preferences.
If you are still unsure and would like more information about telehealth, please email us at one of the following clinics:
Alternatively, please call us and one of our friendly team members will be able to answer your questions.
FAQ’s
What is telehealth appropriate for?
- For Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy sessions, we find telehealth most appropriate for:
- Movement support promoting safe handling during functional movements such as: Transitions to sitting, crawling, rolling, tall kneeling, four-point position, and upper limb and lower limb weight-bearing.
- Gross motor skills support, including body awareness activities (games and activities to support movement), interactive movement and wellbeing programmes (e.g. Cosmic Yoga on YouTube), Embedding ‘everyday movement’ into routines (e.g TikTok dances and action songs to support imitation and sequencing), and strengthening activities.
- Occupational Therapy specific outcomes that can be supported include:
- Executive functioning support (such as Money management skills, Travel training using virtual tools (e.g. Google Maps, route planning) and real-time task breakdown using AI (e.g. planning and preparing a meal)
- Fine motor skills such as visual perceptual skills (e.g visuo-spatial skills, visual motor integration, visual scanning, Eye Can Learn resources) & use of the natural environment (e.g. eye-spy, locating items within the home), targeted fine motor skill development (e.g. bilateral coordination, midline crossing) and handwriting practice.
- Social skills/emotional regulation skills including developing emotional regulation strategies (e.g. breathing techniques, sensory tools, movement breaks), interoception support (e.g tuning into body cues), supporting flexible thinking and problem-solving skills (e.g within interactive games and scenarios in therapy), practising social communication skills (e.g greeting, sharing, and responding appropriately in conversations) and play-based social interaction with siblings or peers (e.g through games and guided activities)
- Early learning skills, including developing attention, task persistence, and engagement in structured activities, facilitating a play-based intervention, and building early literacy and numeracy readiness (e.g. recognising shapes, symbols, letters through play-based tasks)
- Speech Therapy specific outcomes that can be supported include:
- Initial evaluation appointments focused on information gathering from a parent/carer
- Literacy intervention
- Selected motor speech approaches (such as DTTC and ReST).
- AAC intervention (depending on a child’s engagement with the screen)
- AAC device trials for families already familiar with NAPA (often delivered through a hybrid in-clinic/telehealth model),
- Training a child’s wider communication team — including schools, external therapists, and other key communication partners.
What is telehealth generally not appropriate for?
- In general, we do not recommend telehealth sessions be used for the following:
- Delivery of complex equipment
- Equipment trials that haven’t been seen in person first. E.g. a bath seat can be completed on telehealth for suitability within the home but would ideally be seen in clinic first
- Complex physical presentations or delivery of complex exercises or interventions such as Dynamic Movement Intervention (DMI)
- Complex feeding intervention
- DIR® Floortime – It is preferred that children complete an initial block of in-clinic sessions before commencing parent coaching with video feedback
- Administration of standardised assessments requiring in-person delivery
- Children with significant regulation needs who are unable to engage meaningfully with a person on a screen for extended periods
- In all cases, your therapists will amend recommendations and exercises with the safety of your child in mind and in consideration of the resources at hand in the home environment.
What else can help to make Telehealth successful?
- You will need a quality device (laptop or tablet) to facilitate the session and access to stable internet connection. A phone is not considered suitable. A link for each session will be sent to you prior to the session.
- Telehealth sessions are most successful when a family member/carer remains present for the duration of the appointment – this may be to assist with positioning camera, to keep child engaged and to provide handling assistance in some cases.
- If your child has complex needs, it may be deemed too risky to facilitate sessions via telehealth.
What is the cost?
Our telehealth sessions are priced at the same rate as our regular weekly sessions which can be found here. This includes your 45-minute consult, and the additional preparation time that therapists are required to complete.
