Multidisciplinary telehealth interventions for autistic children in sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and recommendations

Abstract

History of autism is plagued by misconceptions and distortions and it is mostly attributed to spiritual causes. A comprehensive literature  search was conducted to identify studies of telehealth interventions in the management of autism in various countries, and related  challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. There were several obstacles in adopting multidisciplinary telehealth interventions (MTI) which include  poor internet, epileptic power supply, cultural beliefs, and lack of political will. This commentary compiles historical misconceptions, MTI  which could be scaled up to meet the health-care needs of autistic children in Sub-Saharan Africa and the challenges that follow.  Furthermore, it presents some recommendations for integrating telemedicine into the healthcare system. This commentary advocates the need for incorporating telehealth in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) management to improve care accessibility in sub-Saharan Africa  through a multidisciplinary telehealth approach involving health practitioners, caregivers, teachers, psychologists, behavioural therapists,  policy-makers, information technology (IT) specialists, web and applications developers, and government officials. User- friendly, low-cost telehealth models such as Applied behavior analysis (ABA), Face your fears (FYF) model, Collaborative model for  promoting competence and success (COMPASS), ImPACT program, Joint attention, symbolic play, engagement, and regulation (JASPER),  and Early start Denver model (ESDM) improve health outcomes in various countries and may be reworked for implementation in Sub- Saharan Africa. Development of appropriate telehealth infrastructure, increasing education and training of healthcare professionals and  patients, and the need for government support and funding would improve accessibility and practice of telehealth interventions.