Remote supervision of rehabilitation interventions for survivors of moderate or severe traumatic brain injury: A scoping review

INTRODUCTION

Individuals with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) often have persistent impairments upon discharge home. In rural communities, specialized rehabilitation services to address impairments can be difficult to access. The purpose of this scoping review is to examine how remote supervision is currently being used in TBI rehabilitation to identify gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed to facilitate access to and implementation of these services.

METHODS

The main objective for this review is to identify the methods being used to deliver remote supervision for rehabilitation in a moderate or severe TBI population. The aim of this review was to document the implementation characteristics of remote supervision used including: (1) type of supervision such as synchronous, asynchronous supervision or mixed; (2) frequency and intensity of remote supervision; and (3) outcomes used to measure intervention delivery as well as effectiveness within this population. This scoping review follows EQUATOR Network recommendations for screening and extracting data.

RESULTS

Twenty-six studies using a variety of remote supervision technology and outcome measures were included. Supervision frequency and intensity are poorly reported with no standardization. One hundred and six outcome measures were reported in this review showing large diversity in the areas being explored.

DISCUSSION

Different types of remote supervision have been used with this population; however, there are no clear guidelines on clinical implementation. Future studies must better define implementation parameters of remote supervision. Benefit on physical activity, balance and mobility outcomes also need to be further explored.