[Brian]
Hi, I'm Brian. I live in St. Mary's and lived here for 50 years. I'm 80-years-old. Well, originally I was in the CALM program at Nepean Hospital. And when COVID came, they had to close down. So I was offered virtual consultations with telehealth, which I found very rewarding. It allowed me to keep up my exercise two hours a day for twice a week, and that continued for a couple of months.
[Brook]
So I'm Brook. This is Everly, who just turned three. And she was born with hypothyroidism and diagnosed through the newborn screening test. So Everly is part of the pediatric clinic at Nepean Hospital. And during COVID lockdowns, we were able to do video calls with her doctor and phone calls instead of going into the actual hospital itself. And that was really handy, especially given I was heavily pregnant at the time and then had a newborn baby. So it was very handy being able to do it in that way rather than go into the hospital for each appointment.
[Maria]
Hi, I'm Maria, a mom of two kids. My son is 16 and my daughter 14. My son has autism. We are using for nearly two years telehealth. Really happy, I'm really happy.
[Brian]
Using virtual care through telehealth, I've found that it was good for me because I didn't have to travel to the hospital. I could get set up at home and I had all the equipment at home which was needed. I was advised before what to do and what to get.
[Brook]
I think it was just less disruptive to Everly not having to take days out of daycare. I could just sort of pick her up early because it didn't take as much time. And I didn't have to take days off work to take her to appointments. I could do the video calls outside my hours. It was very handy to be able to do that, very much less disruptive than having to go to an appointment.
[Maria]
Yeah. The benefits what I founded, because the disability of my son's disability, he's not much able to wait in the line, stay for the time, for more longer. He needs an advice often to go in the hospital. And because all the [inaudible 00:02:29] what he has to do all the needles and check-ins, he's kind of afraid.
[Brook]
Meeting with the doctor through video call was a lot easier than I expected it to be. I'm not the most tech-savvy person, but the instructions that were sent out to me prior to the video call were very clear, very easy to understand. And so when I rang through, it automatically directed us to a waiting area. And then the doctor, we were only on hold for about a minute and then the doctor came on and everything was really clear. And then she put us on hold to chase up some results and then she just came back. So it was all a very easy process.
[Brian]
During my time in virtual care with Alex, he would ask me to do things, which I did. And if I thought that I couldn't do them, he was understanding and worked out that he knew what I was capable of and just tried to push me a little harder, which was good.
[Brook]
Yeah, so I could ask questions. She kept checking in to make sure I understood everything that she was saying, all the updates on Everly's medication and routine. The doctor was really, really good. Took her time. I didn't feel rushed at all. She kept asking if I had any questions. And she was talking to Everly through the video, so Everly thought that was wonderful. Yeah, it was a good experience.
[Brian]
My experience using virtual care that it was really beneficial for me. It saved me time. I could do it from home, obviously. And I didn't have the expense or the inconvenience of having to park at the hospital, which is always busy. And also, I could interact with my friends who I'd met in the CALM program and we will compare notes and sort of compete against each other. If I had the chance to recommend someone, I would say yes, go for virtual care.
[Maria]
My advice for people or the parents too, it's about to use telehealth is don't be afraid. The technology's part of our lives now. And actually, we have to engage with them.
[Brook]
I would definitely recommend they give this a try, give the video calls a try. It is much easier. I was a bit hesitant to begin with. Not being a tech-savvy person, I thought it would be a little bit difficult and phone reception isn't always great out here. But no, it was a really, really good experience.
[Everly]
Hi, Mommy. Read this, Mommy.
[Brook]
We'll read it in a minute, bub. I thought it was a really, really good experience and I would encourage everybody to give it a try. Yeah, absolutely.
