Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation During COVID-19: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has been shown to reduce mortality, morbidity, and hospitalizations. Increasingly, digital tools have augmented the ease of delivering programs outside of the traditional rehabilitation center setting. Because of the need for distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, many cardiac rehabilitation (CR) centers suspended in-person services and pivoted to home-based CR (HBCR). In this study, we qualitatively evaluated implementation of HBCR, which included weekly phone or video visits for individualized exercise plans, nutrition and health education counseling, wellness sessions, and optional mobile phone applications.Methods: Patient participants and staff members (physician, nurses, exercise physiologists, dietician, administrative staff) participated in semi-structured interviews. Two independent reviewers coded interview transcripts for emergent themes and pre-specified themes from the Theory of Planned Behavior, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.Results: A total of 12 patients and 7 staff were interviewed. Narrative descriptions highlighted the isolation, fear, and disruption of life activities during COVID-19. Key facilitators of the HBCR patient experience included strong relationships with staff who served as coaches and sources of accountability and the ability of HBCR to deliver an individually tailored experience within a patient’s home. Important organizational factors for implementation included leadership buy-in, culture of change, and support for staff. Though technology tools facilitated communication and accountability, not all participants embraced technology and some reported challenges with use.Conclusions: Individually tailored HBCR can facilitate access for patients to participate outside of a CR center. Ongoing research is needed to understand the long-term outcomes of flexible delivery models that may include both in-person and remote visits, and the role of technology in these models.

A multi-method exploration of a cardiac rehabilitation service delivered by registered Clinical Exercise Physiologists in the UK: key learnings for current and new services

“…Sam and I discussed current service operations, but swiftly digressed into how incorporating virtual exercise classes could improve their offering. There was a feeling from Sam that integration of online sessions could potentially lessen some of the access barriers regularly cited by patients (e.g., transport), in addition to advancing their `menu-based` delivery [35]. Rather unexpectedly, this discussion shifted into a Q&A led by Sam who wanted to understand my experiences of virtual exercise delivery (an area I had previously observed, e.g [33]).…”