How to Best Develop and Deliver Generic Long-Term Condition Rehabilitation Programmes in Rural Settings: An Integrative Review.
Amanda Wilkinson, Chris Higgs, Tim Stokes and 2 others
PMID 36188934WHAT IT FOUND
Community-based rural rehab for people with long-term conditions needs local ownership, flexible delivery, simple technology, trained staff and volunteers, and peer support.
This review does not show these programmes improve outcomes.
Key findings
01The review synthesized practical information into five categories: theory, context, interpersonal aspects, technology, and programme aspects.
02Community ownership, flexible delivery, and peer leaders or buddy coaches were identified as important programme features.
03Technology needs to be simple, adaptable, compatible, cost effective, and supported by training, with plans for disconnections and hearing issues.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The review was exploratory and broad, so it gathered practical ideas rather than testing whether programmes work. The included studies were not quality appraised, so the strength of each source is unknown. One author made inclusion decisions and extracted data, which increases the risk of bias. Reference lists of potential articles were not searched, so relevant papers may have been missed. The review included theoretical papers and reports, so not all sources are clinical studies. The included studies were diverse, so practical suggestions may not fit every rural community.
Declared interests
The work was supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, grant 20/1167. The authors declared no commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the practical suggestions as proof that rural generic rehabilitation programmes improve health. This review synthesized development and delivery themes from 55 studies, did not quality appraise them, and did not report a tested patient outcome.