Telehealth Autism Services: Service Providers’ and Users’ Perspectives
Abstract
Accessibility to autism services could be challenging for families in rural areas. Telehealth has become a popular tool for autism services after the pandemic. The current study examined service providers’ and service users’ perspectives on telehealth to determine what factors predict its future use. Participants (n=67) including (n=24) autism services providers, (n=37) caregivers, and (n=8) autistic persons completed a mixed-method online survey adopted from the Telehealth Satisfaction Questionnaire. Qualitative responses were analyzed using provisional coding based on a feasibility theoretical framework. Results suggest that the practicality and acceptability of telehealth predict its future use. Qualitative results indicate that telehealth presents some barriers: (a) implementation barriers including technological difficulties and client profile challenges, (b) acceptability barriers related to rapport, (c) adaptation barriers related to modifications of material, (d) integration barriers related to training and caregiver capacity. This study provides implications for strategic planning to eliminate organizational and subjective barriers to telehealth autism services, ensuring equitable access to evidence-based services.