Microlearning-Supported Telehealth Approach for Addressing Developmental Disorders in Children: Challenges and Opportunities in Pakistan

The aim of this paper is to explore the potential of microlearning-supported telerehabilitation as an effective means of building the capacity of caregivers of developmentally disabled children in Pakistan. Due to the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has become a vital tool for delivering healthcare services remotely. However, in many developing countries, such as Pakistan, the lack of high-speed internet and infrastructure presents significant challenges for the implementation of telehealth. To address this issue, we developed “Sehat Agahi”, a telehealth platform that provides asynchronous interactions between therapists and caregivers in Pakistan. Our approach utilizes microlearning, focusing on teaching the most relevant skills tailored to the needs of the child-patients and the capacity of the caregivers. Bite-sized lessons are delivered in a flexible learning style, ensuring maximum engagement and retention of knowledge. We adopted a participatory action research methodology, which involved members of the marginalized community to understand the barriers and knowledge gaps in learning. To illustrate the potential of our approach, we present several hypothetical cases based on observations made during the participatory research.