The COVID-19 rehabilitation pandemic

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the response to the pandemic are combining to produce a tidal wave of need for rehabilitation. Rehabilitation will be needed for survivors of COVID-19, many of whom are older, with underlying health problems. In addition, rehabilitation will be needed for those who have become deconditioned as a result of movement restrictions, social isolation, and inability to access healthcare for pre-existing or new non-COVID-19 illnesses. Delivering rehabilitation in the same way as before the pandemic will not be practical, nor will this approach meet the likely scale of need for rehabilitation. This commentary reviews the likely rehabilitation needs of older people both with and without COVID-19 and discusses how strategies to deliver effective rehabilitation at scale can be designed and implemented in a world living with COVID-19.

Geriatric Rehabilitation and COVID-19: a Case Report

“…Strength recommendations are available to manage these COVID-19 patients [8]. However, age and frailty are key factors to consider when targeting the needs of these patients, and all of our health systems should be adapted to the second wave of the pandemic situation: the rehabilitation wave [44].…”

Deconditioning in people living with dementia during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the Promoting Activity, Independence and Stability in Early Dementia (PrAISED) process evaluation

“…As advocated in a recently published commentary on rehabilitation needs of older people as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic [21], delivering rehabilitation in the same way as before the pandemic will not be feasible, nor practical or sustainable. Innovative ways and approaches must be found.…”

Challenges to physiotherapy practice in COVID-19 times

“…Consequently, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in the United Kingdom has predicted a "tsunami of rehabilitation needs", particularly for patients who have been ventilated in an intensive care unit (ICU) (Thornton, 2020). Since the focus of healthcare systems worldwide has shifted to the needs of COVID-19 patients, the medical and rehabilitation needs of non-COVID patients have also been compromised, and this situation has created inequity of healthcare access for a variety of people with disabilities and/or frailties (De Biase et al, 2020). Physiotherapy services have also been impacted.…”