JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in the delivery of exercise physiology services. The lived experience of those who continued to provide or receive exercise physiology services during the heightened public health restrictions of the inaugural year of the COVID-19 pandemic has received little attention to date, limiting advances in service delivery.

Objective:

We aimed to explore the clinician and client experiences and perspectives of exercise physiology services delivered in-person and/or via telehealth during the inaugural year of the COVID-19 pandemic (after 25 January 2020; date of first confirmed case in Australia).

Methods:

Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with accredited exercise physiologists (n=7) and clients (n=11) who engaged with exercise physiology services during this period. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded and analysed using thematic content analysis.

Results:

Three dominant themes, each with two sub-themes, were identified: (1) telehealth enables access to services but limited the use of some clinical tools; (2) engagement and the ‘relational space’ are limited by telehealth; (3) technological challenges are pervasive in telehealth delivery of exercise services. Despite pervasive technological challenges, telehealth enabled access to exercise physiology services. However, clinician-client rapport, social engagement and the capacity to utilise dedicated equipment for exercise prescription and outcome assessment were viewed as negatives to telehealth service delivery.

Conclusions:

Shared client and accredited exercise physiologist experiences highlight key considerations for the ongoing implementation of telehealth to facilitate the uptake and effectiveness of exercise physiology services. Clinical Trial: Deakin University Human Ethics Advisory Group – Health (90-2020-200512)