Skilled nursing facilities play a vital role in rehabilitation and long term care for senior citizens and people with disabilities across Europe. However, staffing challenges and geographic limitations can sometimes impact the level of care provided. Europe Telerehabilitation Skilled Nursing Care Center is addressing these issues through innovative applications of telehealth technology.
Addressing Staff Shortages with Telehealth
Like many skilled nursing centers, staffing qualified nurses and therapists has been an ongoing struggle for Europe Telerehabilitation Skilled Nursing Care Center. The aging population is driving increased demand for long term care services, but healthcare job openings often go unfilled due to lack of qualified candidates. "We've had to turn patients away or limit new admissions at times because we simply didn't have enough clinical staff available on site," said Center Administrator John Smith.
To overcome this challenge, the facility partnered with a telehealth company to launch virtual care delivery models in 2017. Licensed providers can now treat patients remotely using secure video conferencing platforms. "Our telehealth program allows us to utilize clinicians based anywhere while maintaining a high standard of personalized, hands-on care for our residents," Smith explained.
Remote specialists like physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and nurses conduct online visits and treatment sessions with patients under the supervision of on-site nurses. The telehealth carts, equipped with HD cameras and monitoring devices, are wheeled into patient rooms to facilitate interactive virtual sessions. Resident safety and privacy are a top priority, with nurses present throughout telehealth visits.
Expanding Access to Specialized Care
In addition to addressing staffing gaps, telehealth has enabled Europe Telerehabilitation to substantially broaden access to specialized medical care for its patients. The remote care delivery model connects residents with hard-to-find specialty providers like geriatric psychiatrists, neurologists, wound care experts and cardiology specialists located throughout Europe.
"For example, we've used telehealth to get timely consultations with neurologists specializing in movement disorders like Parkinson's Disease for our residents," said Smith. "Previously, transporting fragile elderly patients for in-person specialist appointments was risky and logistically complex. But with telehealth, these valuable specialists can evaluate and treat patients safely and conveniently via video."
Maintaining Quality of Life for Rural Residents
Many rural communities across Europe lack adequate access to long term care and rehabilitation services due to sparse population density. Europe Telerehabilitation is working to bridge this geographic divide using its innovative telehealth program.
For instance, the center recently partnered with a small rural nursing home in Germany that lacked on-site physical and occupational therapy capabilities. Now, Telerehabilitation therapists conduct virtual therapy sessions with patients at the rural facility several days a week. The remote therapy delivered via telehealth has allowed these communities to retain higher levels of independence and quality of life despite scarce local care resources.
Expanding Telehealth Services
Encouraged by the success of its virtual care delivery programs thus far, Europe Telerehabilitation is actively exploring new applications of telehealth technology that could transform long term care. According to Smith, "We're piloting live video monitoring devices in resident rooms to streamline vital sign checks and address medical issues more quickly. This could potentially replace some night rounds while improving safety."
The center is also researching virtual classroom applications to enable video-based exercise groups, fall prevention classes, art therapy sessions and club activity meetings for residents with limited mobility. Telehealth options for remote family counseling services are in development too.
Combating Loneliness through Virtual Socialization
Perhaps most meaningful of all, Europe Telerehabilitation aims to deploy telehealth as an ally against loneliness, a serious health threat for many seniors. Social isolation triples the risk of early death from all causes for elderly people, according to research.
To nurture relationships and a sense of community, the center has piloted virtual group video calls connecting residents in different neighborhoods for shared activities like current events discussions, book clubs or reminiscing about old times. Telehealth-enabled social programs may help foster joy and well-being for residents in an era of limited physical contact due to infection risks.
Through creative applications of telehealth technology, Europe Telerehabilitation Skilled Nursing Care Center is delivering on its mission to provide high-quality, compassionate long term care services as the population ages. Virtual care options help address staffing challenges while broadening resident access to specialized medical expertise and remote social engagement opportunities. Most importantly, telehealth allows Europe Telerehabilitation to maintain the personal touch of skilled nursing—even from a distance.
