Rehabilitation strategies for long COVID: integrating human factors engineering

Long COVID presents unique challenges that extend beyond conventional biomedical rehabilitation, necessitating strategies that are adaptive, multidisciplinary, and patient-centered. This mini-review synthesizes current evidence on physical, cognitive, and occupational rehabilitation, and introduces human factors engineering as a framework to optimize the design, delivery, and usability of interventions. Emerging approaches such as telerehabilitation, cognitive ergonomics, and structured return-to-work programs illustrate the value of integrating clinical rehabilitation with user-centered design. Yet critical gaps remain, including the limited number of randomized controlled trials, the heterogeneity of outcome measures, and the lack of systematic integration between rehabilitation and human factors research. Addressing these challenges will be essential to develop effective, scalable, and sustainable interventions. By aligning rehabilitation protocols with the principles of human factors engineering, future practice can better enhance efficacy, promote sustained patient engagement, and ultimately improve the quality of life for individuals living with long COVID.