Recruiting

Telerehabilitation

Sponsor:

VA Office of Research and Development

Code:

NCT06288438

Conditions

Multimorbidity

Physical Deconditioning

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 60+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Motivational Interviewing Techniques

Physical Therapy Interventions

Education

Health Status Updates

Physical Therapy Consult

Study Details

Brief summary:

Medically complex older Veterans are at greater risk for progressive declines in physical function, lower quality of life, and increasing care needs. Additionally, older Veterans experience social isolation and loneliness, and have low levels of physical activity. While the Veterans Health Administration has established programs to address rehabilitation needs, these programs tend to be diagnosis-focused, lack self-management approaches, include low-intensity rehabilitation, and typically require in-person attendance. A MultiComponent TeleRehabilitation (MCTR) program that includes high-intensity rehabilitation and self-management interventions, social support, and telehealth and technology supports may be more effective in improving and sustaining physical function for older Veterans with complex health conditions. Therefore, this project is designed to determine whether the MCTR program improves strength and physical function more effectively than traditional interventions.

Conditions

Multimorbidity

Physical Deconditioning

Study ID

NCT06288438

Start date

Apr 18, 2024

Status verified date

Feb, 2026

Completion date

Mar 31, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Nov 2, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 60+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 60 years of age and older
  • Multiple chronic conditions (Functional Comorbidity Index > or = 3)
  • Impaired physical function (< or = 8 repetitions on 30 second sit to stand test)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Life expectancy < 12 months
  • Acute or progressive neurological disorder (e.g. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, recent stroke)
  • Moderate to severe dementia (<11 on telephone Montreal Cognitive Assessment(T-MoCA))
  • Medical conditions precluding safe participation in high-intensity rehabilitation (e.g. unstable angina)

Study Design

Enrollment

126 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Multicomponent Telerehabilitation Intervention (Group 1)

Veterans randomized to the MCTR group will complete the 24-week study intervention consisting of the Active (weeks 1-6), Transition (weeks 7-12), and Sustainability (weeks 13-24) phases. Participants will receive a total of 16 individual sessions (6 integrated, 4 high-intensity rehabilitation, and 6 self-management intervention sessions).

other: Education Control (Group 2)

This group will not receive any exercise intervention but will complete 16 sessions with research staff through videoconferencing. These visits will consist of standardized Health Status Update and education sessions on general health topics.

Interventions

Motivational Interviewing Techniques

Motivational Interviewing Techniques including but not limited to open-ended questions, reflection, affirmations, and summary will be used to build participant rapport, support behavior change (physical activity), and facilitate program engagement.

Physical Therapy Interventions

Strengthening, balance, functional activities, stretching, breathing, aerobic endurance exercise.

Education

Education on general health topics which may include the following: basic nutrition, stress reduction, sleep hygiene, etc.

Health Status Updates

Health Status Updates will be completed by a trained assessor. The assessor will ask about adverse events, general health topics, medication changes, and changes in social circumstances.

Physical Therapy Consult

Participants in the control condition will be offered a physical therapy consult at the end of their 24 week study involvement.

Primary outcome measure

  • 2 Minute Step Test [ Time Frame: Change from baseline to 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks compared to the control group. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jennifer E Stevens-Lapsley, PhD

(303) 949-9304Jennifer.Stevens-Lapsley@va.gov

Maggie Givan, MA

(719) 251-7533maggie.givan@cuanschutz.edu

Locations

Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Aurora, CO

Recruiting

Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045-7211

Contacts

Jennifer E Stevens-Lapsley, PhD

303-949-9304Jennifer.Stevens-Lapsley@va.gov

Principal Investigator:

Jennifer E. Stevens-Lapsley, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

VA Office of Research and Development

Last update posted

Feb 24, 2026

Last verified

Feb, 2026

Keywords

  • telerehabilitation
  • high intensity
  • biobehavioral
  • social support
  • physical activity

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by VA Office of Research and Development on 2026-02-24.