# Telehealth Intervention: A Proposal for a Telemedicine Manual to Ascertain the Civil Disability Status in Italy

## TL;DR

The paper proposes a telehealth method for assessing disability status in Italy to improve accessibility and reduce the need for in-person visits.

## Contribution

A novel telematic protocol is proposed for disability assessment by remote interaction, using platforms like Skype™.

## Key findings

- Telemedicine can optimize disability assessment timing and accessibility in specific cases.
- Remote sessions can be conducted using free platforms like Skype™ for socio-environmental data collection.
- Face-to-face interaction remains essential but can be partially replaced in limited scenarios.

## Abstract

(1) This paper aims to propose a telematic method for assessing the state of disability by a social worker member of the Medico-Legal Commissions of INPS. (2) We have proceeded to delve into and compare the current methods with new strategies to enhance the experience linked to the assessment of the status of disability in terms of timing and accessibility, eliminating the need for a direct visit. (3) The proposed protocol can be applied in cases where patients cannot be physically moved, following a medical visit at home, and when the mere evaluation of documents is sufficient. In both cases, a remote session with the Commission is necessary to fill in the required information about the socio-environmental section. This protocol can be applied to different platforms such as Skype™ since it is free and widely used throughout the country. (4) It should be noted that telemedicine solutions cannot completely replace face-to-face interaction; however, in some limited cases, they can optimize the process and timing, avoiding the need to move or interact only by telephone.