International Experience of Telerehabilitation: Literature Review

Background. Telerehabilitation is a branch of telemedicine providing a new method of rehabilitation service delivery using information and communication technologies by connecting patients and doctors and minimizing distance, time, and cost barriers. At the same time, the patient’s needs and resources have an impact on telerehabilitation assessments and interventions through various software and mobile applications. Purpose. To identify the main areas for development of telerehabilitation based on the review of Russian and international literature. Materials and methods. The authors applied the general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, classification, and clusterization, along with the content analysis of peer-reviewed scientific articles on the delivery of rehabilitation services and the use of telemedicine technologies. Results. Telecommunication technologies are the means to deliver rehabilitation programs to patients, control program implementation, as well as monitor basic physiological parameters. If the technologies and methods of telerehabilitation are developed using a personalized approach and then properly applied, they enable to improve long-term health outcomes, which represents a global challenge in healthcare and sociology.