Background: There is a knowledge gap for implementing tele-rehabilitation (telerehab) after hip fracture. We recently conducted a clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02968589) to test a novel online family caregiver-supported rehabilitation program for older adults with hip fracture, called @ctivehip. In this qualitative substudy, our objective was to use semi-structured interviews to explore family caregivers experience with the telerehab program.
Methods: Twenty-one family caregivers were interviewed between three and six months after the older adults completed @ctivehip. One occupational therapist with research and clinical experience, but not involved in the main trial, conducted and transcribed the interviews. We conducted a multi-step content analysis, and two authors completed one coding cycle and two recoding cycles.
Results: Family caregivers who enrolled in @ctivehip were satisfied with the program, stated it was manageable to use, and perceived benefits for older adults' functional recovery after hip fracture. They also suggested improvements for the program content, such as more variety with exercises, and increased monitoring by health professionals.
Conclusions: This work extends existing literature and generates research hypotheses for future studies to test telerehab content and program implementation.
Keywords: family caregiver; hip fracture; information and communication technology; older people; tele-rehabilitation.