Rehabilitation services for children with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates: Experiences of parents

Introduction: The Covid -19 pandemic brought changes in professional practice across the globe. Children with disabilities received rehabilitation services remotely throughout the lockdown periods to contain the virus in the United Arab Emirates. This paper ex- plores the experiences of parents of children with disabilities who received remote rehabilitation services during the Covid-19 pan- demic. Methods: A survey was developed by the study team in English and Arabic. Demographic data, characteristics of children, family circumstances, access to rehabilitation, use of assistive tools, financial and psychological implications on parents and children, and future use of remote therapy. It was deployed to the parents through the rehabilitation centers and was analyzed using descriptive statistics with frequencies and percentages. Results: The survey was completed by 239 parents whose children with disabilities received the rehabilitation services remotely mainly through telerehabilitation. The pressure and psychological impact on parents were high, reporting frustration (44.8%), and anxiety (59.8%), although (70.3%) recognized the importance of continued care for the child. Conclusion: Telerehabilitation was the means during the pandemic to ensure continued care in the UAE. In the future, remote reha- bilitation will be appropriate in specific situations when there is limited or no access to the center. Future research should explore the continued use of telerehabilitation and its effectiveness.

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