In this pilot study, we found that a home-based prehabilitation program that leverages mobile health technology to target frailty in LTC is well received, safe, and capable of improving physical frailty scores.

Lung transplantation has several important aims: to 1) extend survival; 2) relieve disability, and 3) improve health-related quality of life (HRQL) for adults suffering from end-stage lung disease. Advances in medical therapies and changes in the US organ allocation system in 2005 have prioritized lung transplant for sicker and older subjects. This achievement has come at substantial cost, including recent trends in recipients towards increased disability, poorer HRQL, and increased longer-term mortality. 1

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is the standard of care for persons with chronic, symptomatic lung disease. The availability of PR is limited, particularly in rural areas. In addition, barriers to PR include the lack of transportation, patient inconvenience, inadequate insurance coverage, and cost. Technology has the potential to overcome several barriers to PR by enhancing the availability and uptake of PR principles through the development of technology-supported, home-based PR programs. For technology-supported, home-based PR, or telehealth PR, to be effective, key components of traditional PR must be present including appropriate individualized exercise prescription, self-management education, outcome measurements, and patient support. This clinical review summarizes the current practice of PR, describes limitations to the availability of PR, describes key principles that technology should feature to ensure best practices are met, and proposes current and future technology options as an emerging strategy for home delivery of PR and its components.

No abstract