Rehabilitation staff perspectives on approaches to enhance personalization in program delivery for persons with neurological conditions: a qualitative study.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore rehabilitation staff perspectives on the delivery, personalization, and tailoring of physical activity and mobility programs for individuals with neurological conditions, focusing on patient-centered care and overcoming challenges in program implementation. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight rehabilitation staff members (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, fitness instructors, and rehabilitation specialists) at a rehabilitation centre in Ontario, Canada. The interviews were analyzed using the Framework Method to identify key themes related to program delivery, personalization, barriers, and potential improvements. Three main themes were constructed: (1) Current approaches to personalizing programs, including patient-centered goal setting and varying program delivery; (2) Barriers to personalization, such as staffing shortages, fragmented systems, and challenges with virtual programming; and (3) Potential improvements, including multi-condition programming and better integration of care partners. Rehabilitation staff face significant challenges in personalizing physical activity programs due to resource constraints, fragmented systems, and virtual delivery limitations. However, opportunities for improvement exist by addressing these barriers and enhancing program flexibility to better meet the diverse needs of patients with neurological conditions.