Summary Points

• • The provider should consider the size of the videoconferencing room. For the patient, the room should be large enough so that they can freely move and stand, while remaining in the video camera’s frame. This may be especially important for children, who may need to move around on the floor. Nevertheless, one does not want a room so large that the patient can leave the frame.
• • The room’s appearance has been suggested to influence the patient’s attitudes towards the videoconferencing process, as well as therapeutic rapport. The provider should use and encourage rooms that mirror a normal office to maintain the professionalism of the therapeutic processes. The appearance should ideally be relatively plain, clean, uncluttered, and devoid of distracting background materials in order to create a pleasant ambiance. Background blocking devices can be used for busier settings that cannot be easily rearranged or modified.
• • The provider should encourage privacy and minimal interruptions for all locations. Ensuring privacy should include selecting rooms that reduce the ability for nondesired individuals to see into. The selected room should also not allow those outside of it to hear what is being discussed. “Do Not Disturb” signs or other creative means of reducing distractions, while simple, can be very helpful, especially for children prone to interrupting. Noise machines may also be helpful for increasing privacy.
• • Providers should encourage proper lighting at both their and their patient’s locations to ensure appropriate image quality. Specifically, all members should create even lighting, while reducing shadows or silhouetting.
• • Providers should ensure proper camera angles at both the provider’s and the patient’s locations. Angles can assist with general image quality, as well as reducing distractions (e.g., avoiding pointing towards hallways, windows, mirrors, reflective materials). Angles can also foster telepresence, also referred to as eye-gaze angle, which can assist in establishing and maintaining therapeutic rapport.
• • Two cameras can sometimes be used, varying by available equipment. Two cameras can be helpful for larger spaces that may include multiple people, or for assessment procedures that require views of both the larger view of the person, as well as a focus on their hands to view manipulatives or written procedures to evaluate the patient’s processes and time required for completion.
• • If involving children, the provider should coach the family in selecting appropriate toys that will not be disruptive to the session.

124 Room Setup Considerations References

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