Health professionals' experiences of rapport during telehealth encounters in community palliative care: An interpretive description study

Background: Despite the reported importance of rapport, there are knowledge gaps in the ways rapport is developed and experienced by health professionals during telehealth calls in palliative care. Aim: To gain an understanding about developing rapport during telehealth calls by exploring the experiences of health professionals in community palliative care. Design: A qualitative Interpretive Description study was conducted with semi-structured interviews and focus groups between November 2020 and May 2021. Data was audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed using Reflexive thematic analysis. A COREQ checklist was completed. Setting/Participants: Thirty-one palliative care professionals who had participated in telehealth calls were recruited from four hospice locations in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Results: There were two themes identified: (1) 'Getting on together', which included how rapport shows up in telehealth, with examples of calls with rapport and without rapport, and (2) 'Rapport is a soft skill', which identified health professionals using body language and listening in specific ways in telehealth, while being aware of the privacy of calls, and lack of training concerns. Conclusion: Based on health professionals experiences of rapport it was determined that rapport is vitally important in telehealth calls, as it is in-person interactions. Rapport is a soft skill that can potentially be learned, practiced and mastery developed, although rapport in each interaction is not guaranteed. Patient and family experiences of rapport in the palliative telehealth area warrants further research and there is some urgency for health professional training in telehealth interpersonal skills.