A Measure for Supporting Implementation of Telehealth Direct Therapy With Treatment Integrity

Abstract

As telehealth direct therapy sessions are being increasingly provided for safety reasons during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical to ensure that sessions are implemented with integrity by direct service providers. Although existing research addresses the efficacy of the telehealth model, there is no literature on integrity measures tied to this service model. Without a framework or point of reference, clinicians new to the field of telehealth direct therapy may not be able or willing to attempt to implement it. The Telehealth Therapy Treatment Integrity Measure is designed to delineate components of effective telehealth direct therapy, including aspects of both instruction that should be generalized from in-person sessions to telehealth direct therapy sessions and new elements that are unique to telehealth direct therapy. A description of how the measure can be used to support the training, both initial and ongoing, of direct service providers is included. This measure can support clinicians in ensuring that direct service providers are working within their scope of competence when providing telehealth direct therapy.