Otago Exercise Program Delivery using Digital Practice: A Prospective Case Report

Abstract

Activity restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic left many older adults without access to community-based falls prevention programs. Despite a lack of evidence to support the digital delivery of exercise and rehabilitation, these services were quickly implemented during the pandemic in an effort to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, yet support a continuity of care. Our report describes the novel practice and digital delivery of a condensed Otago Exercise Program, a well-documented falls prevention program, to an 83-year-old female with high falls risk. After four weeks of the Otago Exercise Program via digital delivery, the patient in our case had notable improvement in her scores on the Timed Up and Go, Five Times Sit to Stand, 30-Second Chair Stand Test and One Leg Stance tests. Our findings necessitate the additional exploration of the digital delivery of exercise for future communitybased falls prevention programs and provide an alternate method of delivery for falls prevention for practitioners to consider.

Functional results and feasibility of a teleprehabilitation program in patients who are candidates for elective colorectal cancer surgery during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Likewise, there were significant changes in the STST test in 1 min with an average of two repetitions at the end of the program, similar to those obtained in other studies that used this test in teleprehabilitation programs developed during the pandemic 31,32 . For FSTST, a recent study performed remote home‐based program during the pandemic using digital technology and also achieved significant improvements in run times for this test 33 …”

“…31,32 For FSTST, a recent study performed remote home-based program during the pandemic using digital technology and also achieved significant improvements in run times for this test. 33 In terms of feasibility, this study demonstrated a high recruitment rate (99%), with a moderate retention rate of (53%), good patient satisfaction, and no adverse events were reported during teleprehabilitation. Despite the fact that prehabilitation seems to convey positive benefits on physical functioning, the short surgical waiting times represented the main obstacle to implement the telerehabilitation program in CRC surgery candidates, as reported by other studies.…”