Developing a telehealth physical rehabilitation program for people with moderate to severe stroke using an integrated knowledge translation approach

Developing a telehealth physical rehabilitation program for people with moderate to severe stroke using an integrated knowledge translation approach

Lead researcher: Cathy Said
Department of Physiotherapy
Team members: Coralie English, Emily Ramage, Elizabeth Lynch, Erin Bicknell, Dani Hitch, Natalie Fini, Kelly Bower
Partner organisations: University of Newcastle, University of Adelaide, Western Health

The aim is to develop a telehealth physical rehabilitation program for people with moderate/severe stroke. There is strong evidence that rehabilitation reduces disability in stroke. COVID-19 has led to restricted outpatient services and reduced access to rehabilitation for stroke survivors. There are challenges providing telehealth rehabilitation to stroke survivors with moderate/severe disability. Traditional rehabilitation for this population relies on physical assistance from therapists and specialised equipment. There are also safety considerations for stroke survivors and carers. There is an urgent need for an evidenced-based guide to providing safe physical rehabilitation via telehealth to people with moderate/severe physical disability following stroke.

You can view resources to help stroke survivors with moderate to severe physical disability participate in a physical tele-rehabilitation program using the link below.  The resources were developed using an integrated knowledge translation framework, with input from stroke survivors, caregivers, clinicians and researchers.

Research Outcomes

We utilised an integrated knowledge translation (iKT) framework to develop a physical rehabilitation program for people with moderate/severe levels of physical disability that can be delivered via telehealth.  Stroke survivors participated in each phase of the project with two stroke survivors named investigators on the research team.

Stroke survivors participated in workshops to inform development of the program and then revised the prototype program. All stakeholders emphasised the complexities of tele-rehabilitation for stroke survivors, the need for individualised programs and identified shared decision making as critical. Both the potential risks (e.g. safety) and the benefits of tele-rehabilitation were acknowledged. Strategies to ameliorate risks and deliver effective rehabilitation were identified. Four freely available online resources were developed. Three were designed for clinicians to support shared decision making and risk management. One resource was designed for stroke survivors and caregivers to support the decision-making process.

More details about the project along with the free online resources can be found here: https://healthsciences.unimelb.edu.au/research-groups/physiotherapy-research/neurological-rehabilitation/help-co-design-a-telehealth-stroke-rehabilitation-package/_recache