Tele-Rehabilitation Program for older adults Post COVID-19

Background: Tele-rehabilitation" means delivery of rehabilitation care services via a number of
technologies to older adults Post COVID which characterized with lung impairment, decrease
activities of daily living, risk of depression, anxiety, and poor quality of life. Aim: The study aimed
to evaluate the effectiveness of tele-rehabilitation program for older adults post COVID-19. Study
design: A quasi-experimental design was used to conduct this study. Subject: A purposeful sample
consisting of 112 older adult posts COVID-19. Setting: This study was conducted in the Ain Shams
University Specialized Hospital El Obour, Egypt. Tools: Self-reported electronic questionnaire was
designed in Arabic language to collect data through Microsoft form which consisted of 5parts to
assess demographic data, activities of daily living, quality of life, depression, and anxiety level.
Results:41.1% of the studied sample ranged between 65: ˂ 70 years, 93.8% of them suffered of
comorbidity, 87.5% suffered of breathlessness, 50.9% were dependent, 63.4% experienced poor
quality of life, 18.8% of them suffered from severe depression and 22.3% severe anxiety,
preprogram intervention which significantly improved post program implementation. Also, there
were positive correlation between rehabilitative care practices post COVID-19 and activities of
daily living, and quality of life while negative correlation with depression and anxiety level with p
value < .001. Conclusion: The study proved that the tele- rehabilitation program for older adult post
COVID-19 was effective to optimize functioning of activities of daily living and which lead to
improve independence level, and maximize quality of life, further, to relieve anxiety and depression.
Significantly with p value ˂ 0. 001. Recommendation: Further research to identify obstacles that
have been associated with applications of tele-communication technology, more home-based
programs, and enhancing the resilience of older adults to cope with stresses of COVID-19.