Pediatric rehabilitation services during COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates

Introduction/Objective. COVID-19 pandemic has changed the rehabilitation practice across globe. A sudden transition from in-person therapy at center to remote challenged managers and multi-disciplinary team members providing pediatric rehabilitation. The main objective of this research was assess provision services for children with disabilities during in United Arab Emirates. Methods. Two surveys were developed by team, one others multidisciplinary members. Both validated through experts followed a pilot study. final versions survey sent all centers within Emirates September 2020. total 44 434 completed survey. Results. accessibility reported be very high 77%. Regarding cost running services, almost half (46%) them costlier than normal. Telerehabilitation most common approach utilized synchronized live video calls (86%), YouTube clips (88%), created own videos (65%). Conclusion. appeared efficient model used pandemic. future investments continued use telerehabilitation require planning, budgeting, investing, creating supportive environments parents, children, There is need sharing platforms educational therapeutic resources pandemic, ongoing on telerehabilitation.