Establishment of Emerging Practices and Research Priorities for Telerehabilitation in Solid Organ Transplantation: Meeting Report and Narrative Literature Review

Dmitry Rozenberg ^1,2,3* Sherrie Logan ⁴ Sahar Sohrabipour ⁵ Nicholas Bourgeois ⁶ Anita Cote ^7,8 Robin Deliva ⁹ Astrid De Souza ⁸ Rienk De Vries ⁴ Maoliosa Donald ¹⁰ Manoela Ferreira ⁴ Donna Hart ⁴ Megha Ibrahim Masthan ¹ Tania Jaundis-Ferreira ¹¹ Sandrine Juillard ^12,13 Michael Khoury ¹⁴ Afsana Lallani ⁴ Diana Mager ^14,15 Istvan Mucsi ^16,3 Ani Orchanian-Cheff ¹ Jennifer Reed ^17,18,19 Puneeta Tandon ²⁰ Karthik Tennankore ²¹ Elaine Yong ⁴ Lisa Wickerson ^1,22,3 Sunita Mathur ^23,24

• ¹ University Health Network (UHN), Toronto, Canada
• ² Division of Respirology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
• ³ Ajmera Transplant Centre, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada
• ⁴ The Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program, Edmonton, Canada
• ⁵ Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
• ⁶ Montreal University, Montreal, Canada
• ⁷ Trinity Western University, Langley Township, Canada
• ⁸ BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
• ⁹ Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
• ¹⁰ Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
• ¹¹ School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
• ¹² Department of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
• ¹³ University of Montreal Hospital Centre (CRCHUM), Montreal, Canada
• ¹⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
• ¹⁵ Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
• ¹⁶ Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
• ¹⁷ University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Canada
• ¹⁸ School of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
• ¹⁹ School of Human Kinetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
• ²⁰ Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
• ²¹ Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
• ²² Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
• ²³ School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada
• ²⁴ Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Solid organ transplantation (SOT) is a life-saving procedure for those with end-stage organ dysfunction. The main goals of SOT are to improve quality of life and daily function, which are supported by pre-and post-transplant rehabilitation. In-person rehabilitation programs have traditionally been the standard-of-care for delivering rehabilitation for SOT patients. Many programs have adopted a virtual delivery model (telerehabilitation (TR)), an approach that has become increasingly used given restrictions to in-person delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Presently, TR programs are being used both clinically and in research with variable practices. A 2-day virtual meeting held in February 2023 brought together over 30 Canadian adult and pediatric researchers, clinicians, and patient and family partners across SOT. The meeting objectives were: 1) To facilitate knowledge exchange and dialogue in TR between patient partners, healthcare professionals, researchers, and key stakeholders, and 2) Identify gaps in clinical practice and research in TR. The discussion focused on delivery methods of TR, digital tools, facilitators and barriers of TR, and the effects of TR on physical and mental health in both adult and pediatric populations. This meeting report incorporates a narrative literature review of SOT and rehabilitation articles in the last 20 years.