A physiotherapy-led disease-agnostic telerehabilitation programme for people with chronic health conditions: A mixed-methods feasibility trial

Background: Exercise-based rehabilitation is an integral aspect of chronic condition management. However, the traditional in-person delivery of rehabilitation to condition-specific groups limits service accessibility. This study examined the feasibility of a disease-agnostic physiotherapy-led telerehabilitation programme for people with various chronic conditions. Methods: A mixed-methods single-arm feasibility trial was conducted examining the feasibility of the Telerehabilitation and Exercise for Chronic Conditions (TECC) programme for people with chronic conditions, a disease-agnostic physiotherapy-led telerehabilitation programme. The 6-week programme comprised weekly physiotherapy-led synchronous group exercise sessions, weekly synchronous education sessions, and a social component, all delivered via videoconferencing. Asynchronous recordings were also made available. Primary outcomes included recruitment, retention, adherence, satisfaction, adverse events, and participant experiences via focus groups. Results: Sixteen participants were enrolled during the 4-week recruitment period, with 14 commencing the intervention. Eleven participants (68.8%) were retained at follow-up. The mean number of participants who attended the synchronous exercise, education, and social sessions were 7 (50.0%), 5.2 (37.1%), and 1.3 (9.3%), respectively. No serious adverse events were reported. High satisfaction levels (93.8%) with the overall TECC programme were expressed by those who completed the programme. The TECC programme was an acceptable and beneficial experience for participants. Conclusions: The TECC programme can be a feasible, pragmatic rehabilitation delivery method. However, attendance was poor, and the social component was of limited interest. Intervention amendments and refinements are necessary to improve participant attendance and adherence before progressing to more expansive delivery and evaluation. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06388499).