Early Virtual Ankle Rehabilitation (EVAR): Acceptability

The goal of this study is to learn about people's experiences of how physiotherapy is received having recently had surgery for a broken ankle. The ways to receive the rehabilitation will be via video, call Early Virtual Ankle Rehabilitation (EVAR), and face-to-face at the hospital. The content of the rehabilitation programme will be the same for both groups.

The main questions that the study aims to answer are:

• During the early weeks of recovery after ankle surgery, how happy are people to have physiotherapy support by video call (EVAR) compared with face-to-face appointments at the hospital?
• Is it practical to run a larger study on how well EVAR helps recovery from ankle fracture surgery?

Participants will be put into one of two groups by chance:

• A group that has EVAR, with physiotherapy appointments by video call to their home.
• A group that has face-to-face physiotherapy appointments at the hospital.

All participants will receive the same early physiotherapy programme. The only difference between the groups is how physiotherapy support is received.

Participants in both groups will:

• Start the physiotherapy programme at about 2-weeks after surgery.
• Receive advice and information about recovery.
• Carry out ankle exercises at home, while sitting or lying.
• Have at least two physiotherapy appointments between 2 and 6 weeks after surgery.
• At week-6, take part in an interview to explore the experiences of the physiotherapy programme and method of interacting with the physiotherapist.
• Complete questionnaires about their recovery and their experiences, with a final set at about 12 weeks after surgery.

Between 21 to 30 adults who have had surgery for a broken ankle will take part in this study. About twice as many participants will have physiotherapy appointments by video call as those who have appointments at the hospital.

The information from this study will help researchers understand whether physiotherapy support by video call are a good fit for people recovering from ankle surgery. It will also help decide whether a larger study should be carried out in the future.