Relative Efficacy of Self-directed and Therapist-assisted Telehealth Models of a Parent-mediated Intervention for Autism: Examining Effects on Parent Intervention Fidelity, Well-being, and Program Engagement.

Ingersoll et al. (2024) describe how one Italian residential home kept psychological support going during COVID-19.

Staff switched to video or phone sessions for 109 adults with intellectual disability. The paper is a case series, so it simply tells the story of what they did.

The home delivered every planned contact. No one lost service. The authors do not give outcome numbers, but they say the shift worked.

Taddei et al. (2020) saw the same quick telehealth pivot in a Milan children’s hospital and also kept families happy.

Bentenuto et al. (2021) looked at Italian families during the same lockdown and found stress soared when therapy stopped. Brooke’s group shows the flip side: when services stay open, stress can be avoided. The studies do not clash; they simply compare two paths.

Rosencrans et al. (2021) in the Netherlands later showed unplanned online contacts jumped when adults with IDD could call for help. Brooke’s planned model adds a way to keep routine care alive before crisis hits.

You now have proof that a full residential program can flip to telehealth overnight and still serve every client. Use this example when administrators say remote support “won’t work” for adults with ID. Keep a simple phone or Zoom option in your crisis plan today.