Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2025
Walk with Me Hybrid Virtual/In-Person Walking for Older Adults with Neurodegenerative Disease
Published on: June 16, 2023
Implementation of Virtual, Livestream Yoga Classes for Veterans at Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods
Catherine Pham1,2, Caitlin Hildebrand1, Gary Tarasovsky3
1Integrative Health, San Francisco VA Health Care System, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic and shut down of in-person complementary and integrative (CIH) wellness services at the San Francisco Veterans' Affairs Healthcare System (SFVAHCS) required implementation of virtual program delivery. In May 2020, VA in-person group yoga classes pivoted to virtual classes for existing attendees. In October 2020, we partnered with SFVAHCS Integrative Health and the VA Office of Rural Health to formalize the TeleYoga Program to expand yoga access to Veterans in SFVAHCS' geographically dispersed area.
Objective:
This pilot study evaluated Veterans' experiences and self-reported health outcomes after participating in at-home tele-yoga groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
The RE-AIM framework guided program delivery evaluation. Reach was assessed with medical record data. Adoption was assessed by the number of new facilities providing referrals to tele-yoga. Implementation, satisfaction, and patient-reported outcomes, were evaluated through structured interviews with Likert scale and open-ended responses.
Results:
We offered 4-6 weekly livestreamed classes between October 2020-September 2021. The program reached 70 Veterans, including 40 new participants, with 1208 total unique encounters. Referrals increased from 2 to 6 SFVAHCS facilities. Fourteen participants completed structured interviews. Over half rated highly the convenience and overall experience of tele-yoga classes and reported improvement with pain, stress management, exercise, and flexibility. Open-ended responses indicated opportunities for social connection, maintaining mental health, cultivating resilience, improving function, and managing pain. Suggestions for improvement focused on technological aspects, including audiovisual quality.
Conclusions:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we successfully transitioned and expanded virtual group yoga delivery to Veterans from all geographic locations within SFVAHCS. We attribute this success to existing infrastructure for telehealth and CIH services and a virtual program orientation for new participants. The results of this pilot study suggest in-person group yoga may be successfully implemented virtually, serving as a viable modality that contributes to holistic wellbeing for Veterans.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Community Based Intervention
Foundations of Community Mental Health Programs
Central to the success of community-based interventions is the...
01:24Chest Physiotherapy
Purpose
CPT is primarily used for patients with excessive bronchial secretions who have difficulty clearing...
01:26Methods Of Healthcare Delivery System
Managed Care System:
The managed care system is designed to control the cost while maintaining the quality of care. The patient's care from admission to discharge is planned by the primary care provider or the case manager, also known as the gatekeeper. In a managed care system, the number of care providers is...
01:27Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Symptoms and Behavioral Manifestations
A spectrum of distressing symptoms characterizes PTSD. Recurrent flashbacks, where individuals involuntarily relive traumatic events,...
01:20Virtual Work
In static equilibrium, a body can experience an imaginary or virtual movement, such as displacement or rotation. The virtual work done by a force is equal to the dot product of force and virtual displacement in the direction of the force. When it comes to virtually rotating a...