New research shows telehealth occupational therapy is feasible and appropriate for families of high-risk infants back at home after NICU stay
August 20, 2025

By Mike McNulty

Results of a new study published in OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research show that telehealth occupational therapy (OT) can be a family-centered, timely way of delivering a comprehensive OT program to high-risk infants back home after being discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

The program, known as Baby Bridge, was originally designed to minimize the waiting period between discharge from the NICU and the start of community-based early intervention therapy, a wait that may last for months during what is a critical window of infant neurodevelopment. Traditionally, Baby Bridge OTs work with families in the NICU to support their child’s motor and sensory development. Then, after leaving the hospital, therapists continue providing weekly in-home services. Previous research has shown that Baby Bridge can reduce what would otherwise be a four-month waiting period down to just one week.

This study examined if an adapted version of Baby Bridge could be effectively delivered via telehealth, which has the potential to increase access to care, especially for families facing logistical or geographic challenges to in-person appointments.

“We wanted to understand how an adapted version of Baby Bridge could be delivered through the screen to reach families in their homes, leveraging the power of telehealth to ensure occupational therapy can support vulnerable infants during such a crucial period of early development,” said Associate Professor Bobbi Pineda, the creator of Baby Bridge and the article’s lead author.

Baby Bridge occupational therapist and USC staff member Polly Kellner and occupational science student Sahar Ghahramani PhD ’28, were also article co-authors.

Satisfaction, safety and technology findings

In this study, eight families met in-person with a Baby Bridge OT in the NICU, then after discharge home, completed the telehealth Baby Bridge program. On average, their first telehealth session occurred six days after discharge. Families received an average of eight weekly telehealth visits over nine weeks, with no additional in-person visits.

Parents unanimously reported being “very satisfied” with the telehealth program, praising both the convenience and the support it offered during those early months back at home.

“There were so many instances that we felt unsure about a skill or observation made about our son and being able to meet on a weekly basis with a highly skilled therapist was invaluable,” reported one parent on a post-program survey. “We feel that the telehealth delivery method was extremely efficient and effective and served our family very well.”

No safety concerns or adverse events were reported throughout the study, and none of the families expressed any challenges using the technology, a positive finding that likely reflects increasing utilization and familiarity with digital health care communication platforms.

When participants had to cancel therapy sessions due to illness or schedule changes — a common occurrence for parents juggling many responsibilities that come with caring for a high-risk population — make-up sessions could be rescheduled more easily. The increased flexibility offered by telehealth, compared to in-person appointments, actually reduced no-show rates and increased the total number of therapy sessions.

The researchers note that future large-scale studies will be needed to compare outcomes and costs between the in-person and telehealth models. Yet this feasibility study marks an important step forward in integrating telehealth into post-NICU care plans and programs.

“Effective OT requires communication and partnership with parents, and not only did the infants receive timely and consistent care, the parents also expressed high levels of satisfaction with the program, an important dimension of health care quality in and of itself,” Pineda said. “We’ve shown that telehealth can help support families during the earliest stages of development when they need it most.”

Implementation of the Baby Bridge program via telehealth to enhance access to early intervention services in Los Angeles (PI: Pineda, B.) was funded by a grant from the American Occupational Therapy Foundation.

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