HOME BASED CARDIAC REHAB

Image 1: Home based cardiac rehabilitation, Source: bhf.org.uk

Home based cardiac rehabilitation is the rehabilitation program which is performed at home with or without supervision of a health expert. People who are unable to commute to hospital based or clinic based cardiac rehabilitation programs are preferably opting for a convenient method which is a Home Based Cardiac Rehab program (HBCR). It is an alternative to the conventional cardiac rehabilitation that can be offered to most individuals who want a complication free recovery program.

It is specially designed for patients who are unable to attend other traditional rehab facilities like hospitals, OPDs, rehab centers and clinics etc. HBCR relies on remote coaching with indirect exercise supervision and is provided mostly or entirely outside of the traditional center-based setting like home, community center, health clubs and parks.

How does home based care rehabilitation work?

Image 2: Telerehabilitation,Source: news.va.gov

HBCR permits you to exercise in your own house or any other fitness area while being supervised by a cardiac rehab specialist or a cardiac physiotherapist.This supervision can be done through physical presence of the therapist, videoconferencing or with the help of other remote monitoring applications. You will have access to all of the educational materials related to exercise and cardiac health . These can be in the form of short videos, flyers or cards mainly focusing on specific health concerns. HBCR allows you to view videos and perform the exercise at your own convenience and can easily be discussed or ask questions with your therapist during video conferences.

ADVANTAGES OF HBCR

1. HBCR could help to overcome some of the logistical barriers (e.g., transportation and scheduling barriers) that patients in a Center Based CR programs face. This helps them in saving time as well as money which is spent during the commute. It sometimes becomes difficult to schedule the rehab sessions in accordance with other chores so HBCR is preferred as it is flexible with convenient scheduling, Moreover patients usually feel tired and less energetic on reaching the rehab center.
2. HBCR has the potential to expand the breadth and depth of educational, counseling, and monitoring options for patients because HBCR services can potentially be used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, whereas most center based CR programs are usually limited to the 3 to 4 hours of weekly in-person contact between patients and staff.
3. There is a greater privacy while receiving HBCR services which might not be there while attending a center based rehab services.
4. HBCR provides Individually tailored programs with continuous vitals tracking during each exercise session. Vitals like heart rate, blood pressure, glucose and oxygen saturation is recorded for keeping a track of your health and its progress. It also helps in detecting any abnormal vital sign suggestive of cardiac arrest.
5. People living in areas having no to few cardiac rehab centers and hospitals have a greater advantage of HBCR. This is easily accessible by anyone having a cell phone and an internet connection.