Telehealth and telerehabilitation for the COVID-19 lock-down.
South Africa went into a COVID-19 lock-down on 26 March 2020, following a directive from President Cyril Ramaphosa. The lock-down period prevents non-essential medical professionals from working with patients in a face-to-face context. However, the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) has modified the online consultation guidelines to allow practitioners to consult with new, and existing, patients using telehealth. Telehealth in this context includes “telerehabilitation” by means of end-to-end encrypted video messaging. These digital consultations will only be allowed during the COVID-19 lock-down, and allegedly will revert to the pre-lock-down guidelines as soon as the Presidential directive ends.
If you are feeling confined during the lock-down and want to work on unresolved injuries, then a telehealth consultation followed by some telerehabilitation could be a solution for you. This lock-down period may actually provide you with an ideal opportunity to work on any unresolved injury issues or give you a chance to improve your physical health. Doing some exercise rehabilitation may also provide you with a means of killing boredom and maintaining your sanity.
If you are injured, or want to work on your physical health, you can contact a biokineticst or physiotherapist in your area. Otherwise reach out to a physiotherapist or biokineticist that you have a good working relationship with to see if they are offering online consultations. If you are not a suitable candidate for telehealth, or telerehabilitation, you will be asked to wait until after the lock-down has ended, or referred on for a face-to-face consultation if your condition is serious and warrants immediate care.
Stay healthy. Stay safe. Stay at home.
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