An Exercise and Wellness Behavior Change Program for Solid Organ Transplant: A Clinical Research Protocol for the...

Area of Science:

• Transplant medicine
• Rehabilitation science
• Behavioral science

Background:

• Exercise prehabilitation enhances quality of life, fitness, and post-surgical outcomes in solid organ transplant (SOT) patients.
• Current prehabilitation programs for SOT patients are limited, particularly those offering multimodal interventions with behavior change support.
• The Transplant Wellness Program (TWP) was developed to address this gap by providing comprehensive exercise and wellness support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a multimodal exercise and behavior change intervention for kidney and liver transplant recipients.
• To evaluate the implementation of the Transplant Wellness Program (TWP) within a clinical setting.
• To determine the impact of TWP on patient outcomes and healthcare systems using the RE-AIM framework.

Main Methods:

• A hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial design is employed.
• Participants engage in a 12-week exercise intervention with individualized and group behavior change support.
• Outcomes including quality of life and functional fitness are measured at multiple time points, with long-term follow-up.

Main Results:

• Recruitment for the TWP is ongoing from November 2023 to November 2028.
• The study utilizes the RE-AIM framework to assess individual and system-level impacts.
• Potential limitations include the lack of a control group and uneven participant distribution across groups.

Conclusions:

• The TWP provides comprehensive, multimodal support throughout the transplant journey.
• Study results will inform the effectiveness of the program and guide future scalability and sustainability efforts.
• This initiative aims to optimize patient outcomes and well-being in solid organ transplantation.