ABSTRACT
Introduction: After the Covid 19 pandemic, telerehabilitation has become part of regular practice in pediatric rehabilitation. Despite the availability of studies exploring the feasibility of telerehabilitation in the pediatric population, studies measuring acceptability of telerehabilitation are limited. The aim of this study is to examine the acceptability of virtual exercise program in healthy adolescence. Methods: A virtual exercise program was implemented with 13 health adolescents aged 9-14 years old (n = 9 girls, n = 3 boys). Each session lasted 30-40 minutes and was implemented once a week for 6 weeks. After completion of the program, a semi-structure interview was conducted with each adolescent. Thematic analyses of interviews were done by two reviewers. Results: Result revealed seven themes. The adolescents perceived that exercise program improved their lifestyle (e.g. regularly exercise habit), social skills (e.g, peer interaction), and emotions (e.g. feeling happier, more energetic), yet busy schedule of daily routine (e.g. homework), technical issues (e.g. lack of internet connection during a trip, adjustment of camera while exercising), intensity of the exercise program (e.g. being tired after exercises) were some barriers to participation. On the other hand, the virtual nature of telerehabilitation was expressed as an advantage allowing adolescents to participate in the exercise program after school time. Conclusion: This study showed that virtual exercise programs may benefit adolescents from variance angles, yet there are some issues to be addressed to improve the implementation. Future studies should focus on the improvement of acceptability of telerehabilitation not only in the healthy population but also in children and adolescents with disabilities.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a serious acute respiratory syndrome that has been recognized as a pandemic disease caused by Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The complications related to coronavirus itself, physically inactive period due to symptoms of disease and lockdown may also influence the functional capacities of COVID-19 survivors negatively. It may lead to obstructions in engaging with previous activities of daily living. As a physiotherapy intervention, exercise treatment is one of the novel approaches to support these individuals after the COVID-19 treatment. However, there is limited access to physiotherapy and rehabilitation services during pandemic conditions because of lockdown, especially for infected patients. For increasing accessibility to physiotherapy and rehabilitation care, the World Confederation of Physical Therapy has published a report advising the home-based exercise interventions via Telerehabilitation. Up to date, there is no published framework for structured exercise programs for this population, yet. Since the individual differences in functional levels and possible differences in the severity of coronavirus infection, the physiotherapy, and rehabilitation exercise program should be structured individually for COVID-19 survivors. This document suggests a framework for physical therapists to put into practice an exercise training via telerehabilitation in COVID-19 survivors. The proposed framework has consisted of determination of eligible and risky COVID-19 patients for intervention, physiotherapy assessment tools, 6-week exercise prescription based on FIIT-VP principle (frequency, intensity, time, type, volume, and progression) and criteria for ending exercise.