Using telehealth to provide outpatient follow‐up to children with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder

The team tracked kids who had just finished an all-day feeding program. Half went home and got weekly coaching over Zoom. The other half drove back to the clinic for the same visits.

Both groups kept the same goals: keep eating new foods and stay at a healthy weight. The study asked one simple question—does the screen change the outcome?

Kids in both groups held on to their gains. Telehealth follow-up worked just as well as coming back to the clinic. Parents kept serving new foods and problem meals stayed low.

Ferguson et al. (2018) looked at 28 telehealth ABA studies and said most were weak. Peterson’s single-case design answers that call with tighter data on feeding.

Neely et al. (2021) warned that behavior-reduction over telehealth needs more proof. This paper shows follow-up—mostly skill maintenance—can be done safely from home.

Corona et al. (2021) also found telehealth parent coaching nearly matched in-person visits for toddlers with ASD. Together the two 2021 studies tip the scale: remote parent training is ready for prime time.

You can keep treating feeding disorders even when families live far away. Move your discharge plan to a video slot and keep the same mastery criteria. You will save drive time, cut cancel rates, and still protect the progress you fought for in intensive day-treatment.