COVID-19
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
5th Exchange Meeting with East Asian Countries
9 September 2021
Ms. Stella Cheng
Chairperson
Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association

Chairperson

Ms. Stella CHENG

Executive Committee of HKOTA 20-22

Continuing Education
Secretaries

Vice Chairperson

Mr. Maurice WAN

Dr. Andy Cheng

Ms. Janette Tam

Ms. Sanne Fong

Mr. James Lee

Honorary Secretary
Ms. Joyce Cheung
Ms. Mikan Tsang
Honorary Treasurer
Ms. June Wong

Ms. Vivian CHUNG
Membership &Public Relation
Secretaries
Ms. Amanda Pang

Mr. Simon WONG

Publication
Secretaries
Dr. Calvin Yip
Ms. Glenda NG
Publicity Secretary
Mr. Yat HO
Mr. Dino Lee
IT Officers
Mr. Nico CHING

Ms. Wincy Ng
Chief Editor, HKJOT
Dr. Kenneth FONG

Mission of HKOTA

Background• Established in 1978, 43 years in 2021
• The only Occupational Therapy Association in HK• Joined World Federation of OT in 1984

• Number of Members: over 1100
• Type of membership• Full Member• Associate member• Student member• Details please refer to HKOTA Web Site http://hkota.org.hk

Registered OT in HK
Registered OT in Hong Kong in the last 20 years
3000
2609
2500
1908

2000
1608

1500

1255
1056

1000

674
500
0

374

774

1395

COVID-19 Situation in HK➢First case in Hong Kong on
23 January 2020
➢Total 12114 cases, 212
death➢Mainly imported cases atpresent➢No community infection
since May 21➢less than 70 cases in hospitalwith no critical caseVaccination Situation
Hong Kong Vaccination Dashboard on 1 September 2021
Total Doses Administered
7,637,640
Total Population with 1st Vaccine Dose: 4,162,074 (61.8%)
Total Population with 2nd Vaccine Dose: 3,475,566 (51.6%)
Latest Daily Figure of Doses Administered
49,243
1st vaccine dose: 22,019
2nd vaccine dose: 27,224

COVID-19 Impact on OT Service➢Very strict social distancing rule since early 2020

➢Lack of PPE for OTs especially those working in community
settings in NGOs and private service➢In May 2020, HKOTA assisted the HK Government in
distribution of 400 boxes of surgical mask to OTs working inprivate market in HK➢OTs tried different ways to contact clients and provide service
and will be shared in the afternoon➢Face to face service resume when community infection
decreased

COVID-19 Impact on HKOTA➢Strict social distancing rules and fear of infection
restrict training and continue education activities➢decrease in no of programmes but increase inattendances
No. of Programmes

19/20
26

20/21
18

No. of Attendance

828

1288

COVID-19 Opportunities for HKOTA➢New mode of connection➢Executive Committee Meetings in Zoom since 2020, no skip ofmeeting and good attendance➢First Annual General Meeting via zoom with good attendance
and participation and vote by polling➢Delayed OT Conference in January 2021 via Zoom, with goodattendance➢Started using webinar for training➢Increase inviting overseas speakers & co-organization of eventwith other professional bodies

When you face difficult
times, know thatchallenges are not sent todestroy you. They’re sent
to promote, increase andstrengthen you.”“

Anonymous

Asian OT associations exchange meeting 2021

The Impact of COVID-19 on OT service
and the way ahead
HKOTA

BackgroundDistribution of OT settings being invited with feedback
Government settings:
 Central Rehab Stream (Social Welfare Dept) Child Assessment Service (Dept of Health) VTCDistrict Health Centres.
 Private clinics: Two OT Paediatric Clinics & one
Private Clinic with general OT service
 One private Rehabilitation Clinic provide acuteand subacute OT service in both out-patient
clinic & private hospitals

 NGOs under SWD:
 Elderly, C&A Home
 Special School, SCCC, EETC, OPRS
(pre-school settings)

 Hostles
 Hospitals: Physical, Mental Health HA in-patients
 HA SOPD
 HA GOPD
 Freelancers
 Others: Elderly Resosurce Centre ofHong Kong Housing SocietyQuestions on• How does COVID-19 pandemic affect the attendance• Does the condition affect frequency & quality of service• Is there any effect about clinical placement of OT students in the corresponding setting• Any extra resources needed such as infection control, IT support• Any threat to the setting• Any crisis being faced and the corresponding solutions• Opportunity under new normal situation• Ways forwardChildren’s services/ SWD & DH
CAS Child Assessment Service
SCCC Special Child Care Centre
EETC Early Education Training Centre
OPRS Outreach Preschool Rehab Service

The Child Assessment Service (CAS) of the Department of Healthprovides comprehensive specialized assessment services forchildren with developmental problems. We aim to promote
optimal physical, mental and emotional development of children
with special needs and enable them to achieve their full potential.

KEY: SCCC Special Child Care Centre; EETC Early Education Training Centre; OPRS Out-reach Preschool Rehabilitation Service; CAS Child Assessment Service
SWD Social Welfare Department; DH Department of HealthEffect on Paediatric services
Settings
Effect on attendance
SCCC, EETC, Initial high attendance was affected
OPRS
CAS
A sudden drop of attendance was noted in early 2020.
Then, it was fluctuated depending on the outbreaksituation.
In 2021, the attendance increased to same as before
gradually

PrivatePaediatric
ClinicPart of the treatment programme has been changed
from direct hands-on to online training mode.
Some of the outreach service to school was
discontinued and some had became online training.

Attendance was cut down a lot, and highly affected.

Frequency & quality of service
due to environmental & spatial hindrance for sake of infection
control
In 2020, the booking of cases were spaced out in order to reduce
the risk of crowding of cases in the waiting hall.
In 2021, the frequency of service were resumed normal.
Quality of service is the same if the case came to the centre in faceto-face way.
out-patient clinic setting ~ much reduced attendance since 2/2020
and reached the climax in July & August/2020, has been going backto normal gradually in 2021
The treatment outcome of some cases was worsen than before. OTs
have to wear masks, it is hard for the kids to observe their facial
expression and the oral movement which caused some hindrance totheir learning of social interacting skills.
Some OTs won’t touch the oral part of the kids and can’t provide
oral motor/sensory training for the clients.
One clinic need to change the frequency and mode of treatment
from face-to-face towards on line service.
Quality was affected mainly because clinic couldn't arrange in-houseservice or parents were lacking of equipment at home

KEY: SCCC Special Child Care Centre; EETC Early Education Training Centre; OPRS Out-reach Preschool Rehabilitation Service; CAS Child Assessment Service

Effect on Paediatric service in special school
Settings
SpecialschoolEffect on attendanceFrequency & quality of service

Due to suspension of face-to-face classes and school
activities, the attendance was reduced

Frequency was also reduced;
All direct patient-therapist contact stopped. Lack of direct patienttherapist contact limited the accuracy of assessment and treatment
Therapy was provided in remote basis.
 Assessment were not reliable Treatment provided were not smooth and in-depth enouth Delay discharge arrangement for those graduates in need ofsheltered workshop and day-activity centres

Effect on Community Service for students with SEN
Settings
Vocational
Training
CentreEffect on attendanceFrequency & quality of service

face-to-face (F2F) class suspension
period including (Jan 2020 – May 2020,
mid July 2020 to end of mid of Sept
2020, Dec 2020 to Feb 2021) =>affecting assessment and remedialtraining

Therapeutic Training session:• Individual / group hands-on session suspended• Hands on training sessions resumed normal after resumption of F2F classarrangement.
Mainstream SEN students assessment session:• Telephone and video online assessment were arranged to SEN students
with urgent need of professional recommendation on special educational
need and special examination arrangement (SEA) during this F2F classsuspension period.
• The hands on assessment parts were resumed once the F2F class resumed.
Concerning quality of service, mainly affected the change of service format (part ofthe service by telephone and video contact or by online education) during the F2F
class suspension period.

KEY: VTC Vocational Training Centres; SEN Special Education Needs

Effect on Community Services for Elderly
Settings

Effect on attendanceFrequency & quality of service

HKHSERC

1) Outreach: Slightly decreased2)Centre-based: Decreased over 70%

Frequency was decreased;
Quality of service:• Outreach: Not affected, procedure as usual with PPE added• Centre-based: most programs change to online, visitors
experience is much affectedNGO

Mar~Dec 2020
• Total more than 400 clients served via
Zoom on physical and cognitive OT
training

Client: once a week
Care giver/OAH staff twice a month on scheduled educational program.

PSMDOSTE•

Total more than 1500 carer giver/
OAH staff served via Zoom/
Microsoft TEAM on consultationand educational training

100% satisfied with the arrangement and treatment provided.
Data collection and feedback through telephone follow up andquestionnaire

KEY: HKHSERC HK Housing Society Elderly Resource Centre; PSMDOSTE Pilot Scheme on Multi-disciplinary Outreaching Support Team for the ElderlyEffect on public hospital settings ~Mental Health
Settings
MentalHealthboth
in-patients &out-patients

Effect on attendanceFrequency & quality of service

General drop in all types • In patient: ward-based (individual or small group) service maintainedof services with variation • Day hospital: suspended in 2020; adult day hospital gradual resumed since 07/2021
of impact.
• Out patient: individual consultation maintained; all group activities suspended• Community: : home visits maintained for screened patients with risks in 2020; gradualresumption in 2021
• Service quality largely maintained in a hybrid mode with the supplementary provisionof Telehealth• Aims of Telehealth:
1.Improve accessibility to OT services
2.Delivered “care on-demand” to meet patients’ need
3.Enhance continuity of care for patients and their carers• Mode of communication includes telephone/video/conference calls, email, web-based

forms, Apps-based training (HA developed & department self-developed)• Various communication Platforms (e.g. Zoom , FaceTime, WhatsApp, WeChat etc.)• On-going protocol-driven programs with pilots

Effect on public hospital settings ~ Physical Units
Settings

Effect on attendanceFrequency & quality of service

Physicalunits

Variate on different time
points and wide
discrepancy since someclusters have different
scenarios•In patients were least affected.
•For individual: similar as pre-Covid-19 for those still open full services now (Aug 2021). However,services had been cut for 30% - 75% in 2020, again it various at different settings•For group sessions: Various;

inpatients,
SOPC &
GOPC

one cluster maintained group services;
some clusters suspended group; andsome clusters reduced group size according to the infection control guideline(1.5m social distance apart / max. of 50% of the room capacity) during Covid-19 active period•Interdisciplinary programs are mostly affected:
Pulmonary Day Rehab totally suspended till now,
GDH and other Day Rehab programs partially operating (the volume of patients cut down by 50 %)

•
•
•
•

Some clusters maintained similar mode of services
Some clusters suspended services
Some clusters added Tele-care program (Deliver TELE (phone) for case screening and
ZOOM for educational and training e.g
fall educational class, stress management and relaxation training class , cognitive screening,
lifestyle redesign etc in order to provide assessment / training and cut short the waiting time)Effect on Private practice
Settings
OT Clinic

Effect on attendanceFrequency & quality of service

dropped 40 to 50% due to social distancing andgeneral fear of ventilation, too many people

by appointment as usual, but decreased as expected.
For face-to-face arranged, quality was not affected

Rehabilitation
Clinic with OT
service

Dropped from 50% to 11% every quarter

All private hospital services cut down initially but then gradual allow
outsider provide OT service to hospital

both acuteand subacutePrivatePaediatric
Clinics

Same quality maintained because must have patient face to faceconsultation
Part of the treatment programme has been changed
from direct hands-on to online training mode.
Some of the outreach service to school was
discontinued and some had became online training.
Attendance was cut down a lot, and highly affected.

out-patient clinic setting ~ much reduced attendance since 2/2020
and reached the climax in July & August/2020, has been going backto normal gradually in 2021
The treatment outcome of some cases was worsen than before. OTs
have to wear masks, it is hard for the kids to observe their facial
expression and the oral movement which caused some hindrance totheir learning of social interacting skills.
Some OTs won’t touch the oral part of the kids and can’t provide
oral motor/sensory training for the clients.
One clinic need to change the frequency and mode of treatment
from face-to-face towards on line service.
Quality was affected mainly because clinic couldn't arrange in-houseservice or parents were lacking of equipment at home

Feedback on student clinical placements• Much affected as diminished opportunities in providing real casehands-on experience for the students• Suspended (service learning project from PolyU)• cohort and affecting hands on experience• Experience in public hospitals ~ Mental Health
1. Evolving mode of delivery throughout the pandemic;
2. Blended mode with face-to-face teaching & Zoom class; resumed normal in 2021;
3. Avoid high-risk in-patient wards

Extra resources needed such as infection control, IT support
hardwaremanpower

Infection Control• No extra manpower added or reduced• Infection control station was set up at the entrance• establish PRO team for publication, video recording,photo taking, etc. (grapgic designer and publication officer)• Including thermometer to measure body temperature, hand sanitizer,
disinfecting foot carpet etc.
• Extra money needed to pay for the cleaners, sanitizers, disinfectants,
etc.Transparent partition block• Protective material (PPE e.g. face mask, shield), PPE required in every
visit to elderly’s home reported• Ultra violet disinfecting light• ClO2 vaporized gun• Time used during visit increased because of the gown-up/down time.
IT support• Purchase around 100 Ipad with wifi card

• video recorder, camera.
• IT enabler e.g. mobile devices / smart phone with sim card & 4G plan

• Frequent talks on infection control were provided by theservice, which were very essential since all frontline staffs
need to know how to protect themselves as well as theclients.
• Extra manpower to clean up all treatment areas, tools,
equipments……
• Extra manpower to set up computer, camera for the
online training and edit the video clips, powerpoints fortraining etc.
• there was a reduce of manpower in CAS since DH needed
to deploy some staffs for the Port Health Operation. Two
OTs were deployed to Port Health for several weeks
during these periods.
• In some hospitals, Special Honorarium for extra clinicalwork hour

Extra resources needed such as infection control,
IT support in special school
hardwaremanpower

Infection Control

1.

Extra IT technician support.

• Extra school bus service.

2.

Extra work for the preparation of therapy
home program with videos, pictures andwritten procedures.

3.

Extra administrative arrangement for

IT support• Extra number of tablet computer or computer withcamera and microphone, and wider bandwidth ofinternet network for video call.
• Video recorder (e.g. smart phone and tablet computer)and computer for video editing.

• making special timetable• making appointment with parents• coordinating school bus service

Threat ~ clinical• Inadequate knowledge and skills in conducting zoom training eared after resumption of
F2F class• During home office, depend on tele- communication with parents and clients• Difficulty in conducting assessment• Family crisis: difficulty in taking care their children at home all the time, great parent stress• It took much more time for the kids to have progress and improvement again after a longtime of home-bound and some of them became IT addicted• Difficulties in providing OT service in regular model and format• Without direct patient-Otcontact, therapy quality could be decreased, number ofcomplaint from parents increased. Decision-makers and administrators misunderstood thesituation and reduced the budget of therapy service

Threat ~ management & administration• Some of the case loads accumulated during the suspensionof F2F class and WFH period and needed to be cleared• Insufficient training materials e.g. demonstration
videos to train clients through zoom

• Potential of infection in individual and group training• Insufficient WIFI and training tools• For outreach services, high risk of transmission of disease
asRisk of transferring disease because multiple visits todifferent clients done within a day multiple visits todifferent clients done within a day• There is no fixed or confirmed time for the
pandemic to be over

• Frequent changes of IC measures throughout the
pandemic; managers & frontlines need to be vigilant on thechanges and smart to maintain the service quality.
• Patients / carers may get used to the hybrid mode with
Telehealth which is currently free of charges. Corporate
acknowledged the effort of developing protocol-driven
telehealth programs and is vigorously working on the
charging logistics.
• Managers spent significant time and energy in following up
all the related policies and the induced actions• The morale of the staff may be affected as there
was much reduced frequency of team-building,in-service training, etc.
• Private settings need to struggle, need to balance
between the rent and cost. Financially, it was athreat to the centre• reduced income and service quality + reduced
services in Aged facilities• No face to face meetings e.g. preschool therapists
meeting and working group meetings

Threat ~ summary
1) Security and Privacy issues;2) Quality of services, consultation group panel;3) Quantity of evidence;4) Policy development;
5) Platform of communication among interprofessionals;
6) Advocacy are important strategies to support widespread adoption of telehealth as a service
delivery model in early intervention;
7) Local infrastructure, technology access and cost,8) Provider and caregiver expertise and experiences with technology;9) Complementing existing services;
10) Supplementing home visits

Solutions
Crisis faced

Corresponding solutions

Urgent assessment need during thesuspension of F2F class and WFH period

Part of the assessment done by telephone interview and online video interview with theremaining hands-on assessment done later when resumption of F2F class.

1) 1 All direct face to face OT service
suspended
2) Client with limited IT knowledge (no1) Zoom/ Live online training
2a) Provide all necessary internet device included wifi card.
2b) OAH staff/carer giver/ volunteer accompay with during trainig, for IT support.

computer,/ipad/smart phone/wifi)3) Physial condition deteriorate

3) Explore soft-ware. Able on-site record client's performance and therapist give feedback;
http://www.genieland.ai/ (local developer)4) Cognitive Function deteriorate (espdementia client)4a) Home exercise with worksheet (mail to client), online cognitive training4b) Explore soft-ware,therapist give real time feedback
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Medmind.NeuroGym&hl=zh_HK&gl=US (local developer HK culture )5) Lack of care giver/ relative support5a) Telephone follow up, consultation.
5b) provide relevant on-line education training and advice.

Solutions
Crisis faced

Corresponding solutions

Staff have risk of infection whileproviding training in centers

Infection control measures: wearing mask, eye shield and guard if necessary.
Stop sensory integration and oral motor training when infection rate is high, gradually resume
training with preventive measures and clear guidelines
Zooming training, email home training activity worksheets, sending training tools to client’s home byschool bus or parents come to center to collect homework and training materials;
regular case consultation through zoom and telephone calls.
In-service training to OTs to share skills and online training resources in conducting telepractice
Setting standard format in producing training videos, collection of videos made by OTs and store in asharing e-drive so that OTs can share them in providing home training
Apply funding to enhance wifi system in centers, buy wifi cards and wifi eggs
Apply funding to buy IT advanced software and hardware for training

Potential of infection in individual andgroup training

School environment with infection control measures:~clients must wear masks or they cannot receive training in centers~Teach clients on wearing mask using social story and some training activities~Partition added on children’s table and ensure social distancing~Sets of toys and teaching tools for each client and cleaned after used
~Cleaning session added in between the training sessions, ..
~Half day schooling , no lunch provided

Solutions
Crisis faced

Corresponding solutions

During home office, depend on telecommunication with parents and clients

Speed up setting up “Parents Apps” to facilitate communication with parents
Buy account for Zoom meetings in each center. Continue different meetings by zoom
Continue by zoom
Sometimes through hybrid mode with small group members onsite while others by zoom
Zoom conference becomes one of the modes in holding conference in our services

Difficulty in conducting assessment

Set up guideline in conducting simple tele- assessment
Advantages in observing real home environment and how parents provide support andtraining to clients at home through zoom
Home visit by zoom becomes one of the alternatives in our services

Family crisis: difficulty in taking care ofchildren at home, great parent stressSpecially spot out families at risk, contact them frequently to provide psychosocial support,
financial support and make referrals if need

Low morale of colleagues

Reassurance, encouragement and support were given

Therapist concern on hygiene problem onsome cases especially in the toileta) Full PPE and infection control practice.
b) Check client’s Temp. and travel history.

Clients present flu-like symptoms

Symptoms checking and refer to medical checking first
Suspend assessment

Limited centre-based education programs

Use online platforms

Solutions
Crisis faced

Corresponding solutions

Relative and elderly concern on physically entering home
for assessment at early pandemic

Full PPE and strict infection control protocol to ease their concern.

Staffs worried about the COVID-19 infection since theyneed to have face-to-face contact with the clients andparents

1. Clear and updated infection control measures were established and sent tostaffs regularly.
2. Sufficient personal protective equipment were provided.
3. For those who have chronic health problems or other concerns, special
arrangement may be made.

Frequent changes of IC measures throughout the
pandemic.

Managers & frontlines need to be vigilant on the changes and smart to maintainthe service quality.

Patients / carers may get used to the hybrid mode with
Telehealth which is currently free of charges.

Corporate acknowledged the effort of developing protocol-driven telehealthprograms and is vigorously working on the charging logistics.

Managers spent significant time and energy in following
up all the related policies and the induced actions

Keep working – no solutions at this point

infection spreading••

centre closed in those critical period so as to minimize the chance of being
infected & having the virus spreaded
disinfecting the centre more frequently

financially••may need to discuss with staff about the pay scale & method
apply for subsidies from Government

reduced income and service quality + reduced services inAged facilities

increased home OTs, telephone consultation, working with NGOs for Carer
Education programSolutions in special school
Crisis faced

Corresponding solutions

The suspension of face-to-face classes andschool activities stopped direct-patienttherapist contact therapy service in school.
Lack of direct patient-therapist contact
limited the accuracy of assessment andtreatment.

At the school administrative level, OT got the special approval toprovide direct patient-therapist contact therapy under adequate
epidemic prevention measures during school the period of suspensionof face-to-face classes and school activities.
- Day students could come back school for therapy weekly or biweekly. Therapist could also visit them at home for environmental
advice and care-taker training.
- Therapist could go to boarding section or boarding students came totherapy department for therapy in school.

Some boarding students who lived inmainland or students who lived in hospital,
could not attend school.

OT service were provided in a remote basis, e.g. consultation via
telephone and video call, home program with video demonstration andwritten procedure with pictures. The care-take could follow OT’s
instruction to guild and assist students’ training.

Delay on the discharge arrangement tosheltered workshop and day-activity center.

Continue therapy training to maintain students’ abilities to get ready fordischarge.

Opportunity under
new normal situation• Apart from the traditional OT supporting clients who are mainly having more disabilities and functional difficulties, OT also
expanded more training services for SEN students with less disability to enhance their physical functional physique toenhance their physical tolerance for their future work placement.
1) For those client with accessbility difficulties, on-line (LIVE) training may benefit2)Care giver can learn step by step via Zoom with real time feedback and comment from therapist.
3)Triage & save time4) Develop education package both video and worksheet.
5) Relative/ care giver learnt basic principle from video
6) Provide written test (MC/short question)7) Therapist give feedback• Client raised health concern and knowledge, thus more easy to convince them in prescribing aids with explanation of caring
and rehabilitation.

Opportunity under new
normal situation• In 2014, the World Federation of Occupational Therapists acknowledged
Tele-rehabilitation as an appropriate service delivery model for OT services=>
1. Prevent unnecessary delay in service delivery;
2. Promote internal locus of control;
3. Less disruption of family routine > high attendance rate;
4. Positive clinical outcome c.f. face-to-face intervention;
5. Cost effective for clients as well as for therapist;
6. Skill and confidence improvement reported• Elderly spend more time at home, thus facilitate tele/smart trainingOpportunity under new
normal situation
Infection Control Measures
1. Clear and updated infection control measures were establishedand sent to staffs regularly.
2. Sufficient personal protective equipment were provided.
3. For those who have chronic health problems or other concerns,
special arrangement may be made.

Opportunity under
new normal situation
Management & Administration• Managers & frontlines need to be vigilant on the changes and smart to maintain the service quality.
• Corporate acknowledged the effort of developing protocol-driven telehealth programs and is vigorously
working on the charging logistics.
• Tele-health and Tele-care programs as alternative mode to service patients with difficulties in receiving
face-to-face OT intervention;• More efficient use of time by cutting down the travelling period for meetings and trainings; many of us
have get used to the online mode of communication and found it very convenient.
• Develop more OT specialty to increase the case load => increase income• Advancement of Hardware and Software in service provision• increased use of OTAs (more job opportunities)• new roles to arrange training workshop for carers• The school administrators realize the importance of direct patient-therapist contact in OT service.
Lacking therapy could worsen the progress of students’ rehabilitation.

Opportunity under
new normal situation
Professional development of self
• Would prefer to attend talk or seminar in online mode as itsaves time and energy to attend.
• The course fee is much cheaper especially when it involves
overseas speaker.

WFOT – Telehealth Position Statement
https://www.wfot.org/resources/telehealth• Is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to
deliver health-related services when the provider and client are indifferent physical locations• Includes tele-occupational therapy, telerehabilitation, teletherapy,
telecare, telemedicine, and telepractice, etc.
• Covers health promotion, habilitation, rehabilitation, etc.
• Evaluation, intervention, monitoring, supervision, and consultation• When in-person services are not possible, practical, or optimal fordelivering care
• Part of a hybrid model• Real time interaction between the therapist and client• Real time transmission of data between the therapist and client• Telehealth should meet the same standards of care as services
delivered in-person• Legal and Professional Standards

Area of Concern in
Telepractice for Therapists• Scope of Telepractice for therapists• Professional / Professional Association Guidelines• Ethical Standards• Malpractice Coverage• Technical Standards• Selection of Clients• Assessment Accuracy• Intervention Delivery• Outcome Measures

Way forward• Development of more and more distant training programs for clients who stay longer at home.
• Development of AI-assisted home modification assistant.
• OT in VTC should widen the coverage of service to cover more SEN student to those with lesser
disabilities in enhancing their physical physique and work tolerance in their future work placement• OT should also develop more online service format to prepare for any need for distant home follow
up programmes such as online training workshop, online individual training programme duringsuspension of F2F class period.
• Parallel development, direct hands on and online training with support on home exercise andeducation training• OT should develop other skills to increase the patient scopes•

Live, learn and play as before, just together with COVID-19.

• some new service such as telephone consultation, production of educational booklets or videos,
were established for those cases who cannot attend the assessment due to fear of COVID-19

Way forward

In hospitals• Standardized Telehealth programs among public hospitals;• Corporate IT support with development of E-forms in central
medical systems & further develop Apps fit for psychiatric services;• Corporate system for attendance taking and charging for bothpatient and carer services

In special schools• Make sure the decision-making persons understand the importanceof our service and let them know our limitation in changes.

• Keep good connection with administrators and different parties(e.g. teachers, IT, school bus, boarding) in school so that all special
arrangements to maintain therapy service can be speedy andfixable enough.