Meeting the Rehabilitation and Support Needs of Patients With Breast Cancer During COVID-19: Opening New Frontiers in Models of Care

Abstract

Background: 

COVID-19 presents a significant challenge to providing specialized rehabilitation and exercise for patients with breast cancer.

Objective: 

The purpose of this report is to describe the implementation of telerehabilitation for one-on-one patient care and interactive, live, Web-based formats for group patient education, exercise, and support programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: 

This report describes the concept, materials, and methods used in a community-based clinical setting to serve patients' needs during COVID-19.

Results: 

Telerehabilitation and interactive Web-based strategies may be useful in meeting the physical and emotional needs of patients with breast cancer. Brief patient cases summarize the process of one-on-one telerehabilitation implementation and provide patient and family perspectives. Challenges and benefits of telerehabilitation are described. Interactive Web-based strategies substantially increased the numbers of patients reached with survivorship education and support groups during the first 2 months of COVID-19.

Limitations: 

This report is descriptive and does not include group outcomes. Further research is needed to compare outcomes of telerehabilitation versus in-person delivery of breast cancer rehabilitation care.

Conclusion: 

Telerehabilitation and interactive Web-based education formats provide an alternative to in-person breast cancer rehabilitation care during COVID-19 and have potential application for improving delivery of care to underserved populations and in other types of cancer.