Brandon Briggs is an Exercise Physiologist, Chani Jain is a Biostatistician, and Krisann Oursler is a Physician and the Director of Geriatric Research and Education at the Salem VAMC in Virginia. Miriam Morey is Associate Director of Research in the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC) at Durham VAMC in North Carolina. Erin Blanchard is an Exercise Physiologist and Cathy Lee is a Physician in the GRECC at the Greater Los Angeles VAHS in California. Willy Marcos Valencia is a physician in the GRECC at the Miami VAHS in Florida. Dr. Morey is a Professor at Duke University Medical Center in Durham. Dr. Lee is an Associate Professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Valencia is an Assistant Professor at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Florida International University in Miami, Florida. Dr. Oursler is an Associate Professor at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke, Virginia. Correspondence: Krisann Oursler (krisann.oursler@va.gov)
Author disclosures The authors report no actual or potential conflicts of interest with regard to this article.
Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Federal Practitioner, Frontline Medical Communications Inc., the US Government, or any of its agencies.
Gerofit, which is designed to help older veterans maintain independent living and prevent disability, has been demonstrated to improve quality of life and survival. Our goal has been to adapt Gerofit to CVT and provide a supervised, individualized exercise program in a group setting—a program that can be widely disseminated. Salem VAMC Tele-Gerofit is an innovative and prescriptive program that delivers CVT functional circuit exercise training to remote locations without the need for stationary exercise equipment. This approach has the potential to become an effective and feasible exercise strategy for preventing and minimizing disability in the increasing population of older veterans. Work is needed to determine whether Tele-Gerofit provides a rapid translation of Gerofit to clinical practice and improved outcomes with substantial cost savings from reduced hospitalization and institutionalization.
Acknowledgments Gerofit has been funded by the Veterans Health Affairs Office of Geriatrics and Extended Care Non-Institutional Long-Term Care Funding and Mentored Partnership Program, and the Veterans Health Affairs Office of Rural Health Rural Enterprise-Wide Initiative.
The authors thank Kim Birkett, MPH, for assistance in editing, references, and graphics and the staff at the Wytheville, Staunton, and Danville community-based outpatient clinics for their support.
