Teledi@Log - Tele-rehabilitation of Heart Patients

Tele-rehabilitation of Heart Patients

The idea behind the Teledi@log consortium is to develop tele-rehabilitation concepts and technologies so that all types of heart disease patients, regardless of degree of severity, can be offered individual, customized and coordinated tele-rehabilitation across sectors. The project is innovative, breaking new ground in relation to existing national and international research projects in the area. The Teledi@log consortium sees its major task as developing and testing scenarios which can lead to a more coherent rehabilitation for heart patients in areas such as patient training, organization across the boundaries of the health system and using tele-rehabilitation technology. The Teledi@log consortium seeks to develop new tele-rehabilitation concepts which bring the patient closer to the health system and thereby promote the heart patient's rehabilitation, giving the patient and their families a more active role via new tele-rehabilitation technologies.The hypothesis of the study is that heart patients participating in a telerehabilitation program will have a higher quality of life compared to heart patients following traditional rehabilitation activities.

The aims of the research project are:

To assess the heart patients' and family members' needs for rehabilitation in the health system

To assess the need for coordination of the rehabilitation effort in the health system

To develop tele-rehabilitation concepts and technologies for heart patients, family members and health professionals in the health sector

To promote an early, rapid and effective rehabilitation of heart patients to improve their daily life and working life.

To prevent re-hospitalization of heart patients through a more individualized and differentiated rehabilitation effort using tele-rehabilitation technologies.

To conduct a randomized study of a tele-rehabilitation concept using tele-rehabilitation technologies and to assess the clinical, technical, organizational and health-economic effects.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women and men above 18 years
• Must have signed the "Informed Consent" document
• Must be able to understand study information
• Must live in Hjørring or Frederikshavn Kommune
• Must have mobile network
• Must be able to use IT or have a near person who can use IT
• Patients with clinical diagnosis of Heart Failure, Myocardial Infarction, Angina Pectoris, patients who have had Coronary-Artery Bypass Surgery.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who, according to investigator, will not be able to participate in the study
• Lack of ability to speak and understand Danish
• Pregnancy or nursing
• Neurologic disease
• Use of wheelchair/lack of ability to walk
• Participation in other studies which can influence the outcomes of this study