User Requirements of the Integrated Home-Based Rehabilitation Tool, Neurorehabilitation Ecosystem for Sustained Therapy: Multicenter Focus Group Study With Stroke Survivors, Caregivers, and Health Care Professionals.
Merle Matijsen, Cheriel Hofstad, Susana Rodriguez Gonzalez and 6 others
PMID 42054568WHAT IT FOUND
Stroke survivors, caregivers, and therapists agree that home rehabilitation apps need therapist-led setup, simple interfaces, and customizable games.
Caregivers want to support without becoming therapists. The system must be an addition to clinic care, not a replacement, with ongoing monitoring to keep patients engaged.
Key findings
01All participant groups agreed that home-based rehabilitation should supplement, not replace, on-site therapy, requiring initial clinic sessions for setup and ongoing therapist monitoring.
02Caregivers explicitly stated they should not be responsible for monitoring or motivating the technology, preferring to maintain their role as supportive partners rather than acting as therapists.
03Therapists emphasized that the system must provide data on both the quality and quantity of arm movements to allow them to correct compensatory strategies and tailor interventions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study excluded people with aphasia or significant cognitive impairment, so the findings do not apply to a large portion of the stroke population. Participants had to have basic smartphone proficiency, potentially biasing results toward more tech-literate users. The system was not fully developed; participants reacted to videos and prototypes, which may not reflect real-world usage issues. There was a predominance of male stroke survivors and age imbalances across sites. Data collection methods varied by country (focus groups vs. individual interviews) due to COVID-19 restrictions, which may have influenced the depth of discussion.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Active Assisted Living program. One author is a scientific advisor at Eodyne Systems, an industrial partner involved in developing the technology being evaluated.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this as evidence that home-based digital rehabilitation improves patient outcomes. This study only reports what users said they wanted in a system that has not yet been tested for efficacy or adherence in a clinical trial.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →