Establishment of Emerging Practices and Research Priorities for Telerehabilitation in Solid Organ Transplantation

Solid organ transplantation (SOT) is a life saving procedure for many Canadians with end stage organ dysfunction. The main goals of SOT are to improve quality of life, physical function and daily activities, which is supported by pre- and post-transplant rehabilitation. In-person, hospital-based programs have been the standard way of delivering rehabilitation for SOT patients. However, these programs had to quickly change to a virtual delivery model (i.e. tele-rehabilitation) due to restrictions on in-person delivery from COVID-19. Telerehabilitation programs are being used across the country both clinically and in research, but with a variety of practices. Furthermore, stronger research evidence is needed to determine which approaches to telerehabilitation may be most effective in SOT. We propose to hold a 2-day virtual meeting in October 2022 for "Establishment of Emerging Practices and Research Priorities for Telerehabilitation in SOT." This meeting will bring together over 30 adult and pediatric researchers, clinicians and patient and family partners across SOT (heart, lung, liver and kidney) to develop a common research strategy. The objectives of the meeting are: 1) increase communication and collaboration between experts and various stakeholders across SOT programs 2) identify opportunities and available resources for virtual care to help with access to rehabilitation (i.e. rural-urban, income); 3) identify important research questions and clinical priorities in telerehabilitation. The anticipated outputs of the meeting are: 1) develop a team who will share emerging practices in tele-rehabilitation that will be made publicly available 2) generate a consensus report on gaps and future directions in telerehabilitation and 3) develop priority research questions for a future grant application. This meeting will allow us to develop a research agenda based on available evidence and expert opinion to improve delivery of telerehabilitation in SOT patients.