Perceptions and Experiences of a Multimodal Rehabilitation Program for People With Post‐Acute Covid‐19
A Qualitative Study
Bibliographic Data
INTRODUCTION: Home‐based rehabilitation has emerged as a practical solution for post‐acute phase COVID‐19 recovery, but patient perspectives on the different modalities remain underexplored. OBJECTIVE: To explore participants' perceptions and experiences after a 12‐week multimodal rehabilitation program delivered via asynchronous telerehabilitation versus a booklet after discharge and to identify the preferred format. METHODS: Qualitative descriptive study with two face‐to-face focus groups of post-discharge COVID-19 patients (n = 12; age range 41-75 years; 50% female; with fatigue > 4 on the Fatigue Severity Scale) that included participants from each intervention arm of a randomised pilot study. Semi‐structured interviews to determine patients' perceptions and experiences were recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded independently by two researchers using inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Three overarching themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Facilitators for engagement and adherence: Innovative digital tools and personalised guidance foster active participation by providing flexible access and systematic progress monitoring; (2) Barriers to sustained participation: Technological issues, physical limitations and fluctuating motivation serve as critical impediments, underscoring the potential benefits of hybrid intervention models; and (3) Therapeutic alliance as support: A robust, individualised therapeutic relationship enhances patient confidence and self-management, ultimately contributing to sustained empowerment and recovery. CONCLUSIONS: A multimodal home-based rehabilitation program with monitoring and personalisation by the physiotherapist is rated positively by post-acute COVID-19 patients, with asynchronous telerehabilitation emerging as the preferred method. Future research should investigate long‐term adherence, clinical efficacy and scalability. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinialtrials.gov #NCT04794036. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Post-acute COVID-19 patients contributed to the study by actively participating in its development, specifically through describing their experiences as part of a multimodal rehabilitation program. There was no additional participation or contribution from the public to the research
Empowerment · Focus group · Health care · Modalities · Physical therapy · Qualitative research · Telehealth · Telemedicine · Telerehabilitation · Thematic analysis · Applied Psychology · COVID-19 and Mental Health · Intensive Care Unit Cognitive Disorders · Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Rehabilitation
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