Perspectives of Rehabilitation Professionals on Implementing a Validated Home Telerehabilitation Intervention for Older Adults in Geriatric Rehabilitation: Multisite Focus Group Study.
Margriet Pol, Amarzish Qadeer, Margo van Hartingsveldt and 1 others
PMID 37463040WHAT IT FOUND
Therapists valued sensor monitoring for spotting activity drops after discharge but struggled to use it with patients who have cognitive impairment or live alone.
They identified a lack of time to review data and insufficient training as key barriers to routine implementation.
Key findings
01Therapists reported that sensor data helped them focus on participation goals and gain insight into daily activity, which supported coaching and goal setting.
02Cognitive impairment and living alone without caregiver support were cited as major barriers, as these patients often forgot to wear the sensor or could not engage with the technology.
03Therapists identified time constraints and a lack of training in interpreting sensor data as significant obstacles to integrating telerehabilitation into their busy schedules.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study only included the perspectives of therapists, not the patients or their families, so it is unclear how older adults themselves experienced the technology. The sample size was small (14 participants), and the two groups had very different levels of experience with the intervention (one group had used it, the other had not), which may limit the comparability of their views. The findings are based on qualitative themes and do not provide evidence on whether the intervention actually improves patient outcomes or is cost-effective. The Canadian participants had no hands-on experience with the device, so their barriers and facilitators were based on hypothetical scenarios rather than actual practice.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these themes as evidence that sensor monitoring improves patient outcomes. This study only reports what therapists thought about the process of implementation, not the effectiveness of the intervention itself.