Overwhelming success with virtual care
Like many, Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP), Helen Mathison shifted to seeing patients virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. Helen works in the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Outpatient Program and provides cognitive linguistic treatment to those experiencing ongoing cognitive and other symptoms after a TBI.
Providing this care virtually has gone so smoothly and been so well received by her patients, that Helen continues to be fully remote. In fact, here is just some of the recent feedback from her patients:
- “She’s crucial to my recovery & has helped me move forward in my life.”
- “I’ve been working w/Helen for 6 months now, she is so empathetic & compassionate.”
- “One of the calmest, patient, & helpful medical staff I’ve dealt with – EVER!”
We asked Helen what her secret is. According to Helen, “I run my sessions almost identically to in-person sessions, so the virtual component is just a tool, not a barrier. It’s wonderful being able to see patients in their own environment and they are less symptomatic since we’ve eliminated their commute. We can work with people living in rural Minnesota as well as those with limited social support and/or transportation barriers. Making our therapy accessible to more individuals fits our mission and I hope this becomes a permanent option we can offer.”
Helen is one of several SLPs from Hennepin Healthcare’s Speech-Language Pathology Department who see and treat our TBI patients.
