A Qualitative Examination of COVID-19's Impacts on Physical Activity and Perceptions of Remote Delivery Interventions.

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic is correlated with decreased physical activity (PA). Transitioning to remote work may impact people's acceptability and preferences for remotely delivered behavioral interventions, including PA. The objective was to examine perceptions of COVID-19 impacts on PA engagement and motivation, and perspectives related to remotely delivered PA interventions. DESIGN: Cross-sectional small-group interview. SETTING: Harris County, Texas. Participants: Insufficiently active, overweight/obese adults (16 healthy adults [aged 25-52 years], and 7 cancer survivors [aged 50-74 years]). METHOD: Group discussion was guided by semi-structured questions. Audio-transcribed data (278 pages) was analyzed using Braun and Clarke's process centering identification, analysis, organization, description, and reports. RESULTS: Overall, participants expressed a decreased level of PA due to the pandemic. Difficulties (e.g., care-taking activities, working from home, and safety concerns) negatively affected motivation. Participants indicated high acceptability of remotely delivered PA interventions, with advantages of virtual technology features (e.g., did not have to maintain a gym membership) and even accountability in maintaining a PA routine (e.g., using virtual groups to engage in community support). CONCLUSION: Participants described COVID-19 negatively affects access to PA opportunities yet also expressed willingness to engage in remotely delivered PA interventions instead of in-person programs because of their COVID-19 experiences. Remote interventions can greatly increase accessibility and offer opportunities to provide personalized motivation and accountability that people need to be more physically active.

Telehealth and Palliative Care for Patients With Cancer: Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

It has been reported that the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection is higher in patients with cancer than in the general population and that patients with cancer are at an increased risk of developing severe life-threatening complications from COVID-19. Increased transmission and poor outcomes noted in emerging data on patients with cancer and COVID-19 call for aggressive isolation and minimization of nosocomial exposure. Palliative care and oncology providers are posed with unique challenges due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Telepalliative care is the use of telehealth services for remotely delivering palliative care to patients through videoconferencing, telephonic communication, or remote symptom monitoring. It offers great promise in addressing the palliative and supportive care needs of patients with advanced cancer during the ongoing pandemic. We discuss the case of a 75-year-old woman who was initiated on second-line chemotherapy, to highlight how innovations in technology and telehealth-based interventions can be used to address patients' palliative and supportive care needs in the ongoing epidemic.