COPD patients and telerehabilitation

Today the online newspaper “Avisen Danmark” has an article on results from the research study iTrain focusing on tele-rehabilitation of COPD patients in their own homes over a two-year period.

The study was carried out simultaneously in Denmark, Norway and Australia. The objective was to compare three types of rehabilitation for patients with COPD in the three countries.
In Denmark, the study was conducted as a collaboration between the Esbjerg Health Center, the Pulmonary Medicine Department of Southwest Jutland Hospital and Aalborg University.

The research project was headed by professor Paolo Zanaboni, Norwegian Center for e-Health research, Norway, professor Anne Holland, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and professor Birthe Dinesen, Aalborg University. The study was financed by the Norwegian Research Council.

Read the article in Danish at Avisen Denmark.

Dagens Medicin: Artikel om Future Patient AFli

Artikel i Dagens Medicin 18. april 2023:

Storstilet projekt sætter som de første fokus på ‘forsømte’ hjertepatienter

Selvom de udgør ti pct. af alle indlagte på landets hjerteafdelinger, er patienter med atrieflimren ‘oversete’. Det er et storstilet projekt på tværs af kommuner og hospitaler i gang med at lave om på.

Læs artiklen på Dagens Medicin – eller via VBN.

Telerehabilitation of COPD patients reduces hospital admissions

Long-term unsupervised exercise training at home is an effective treatment strategy which can reduce hospital readmissions for patients with COPD, similarly to the effect of a supervised telerehabilitation strategy. These interventions have the potential to improve uptake and access to pulmonary rehabilitation and support long-term exercise maintenance strategies. Unsupervised training at home could be offered to patients with COPD who do not access PR or maintenance programs. Telerehabilitation may be useful for patients who are unsuitable for unsupervised training and need a closer follow-up.

We have had our results published in the well estimated journal: ”American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine”. You can read the paper here.

You can read more about the project here.

The project is a collaboration between Denmark, Norway and Australia. In Denmark the Pulmonary ward of Esbjerg Hospital and Esbjerg Healthcare Center has participated in the clinical part of the study. The Norwegian Research Council of Norway has financed the study.

Knæk Cancer: Kontakt via computeren giver tryghed og god kommunikation

“Carl Erik Lorenz Arnum og Lisbeth Dyrvig har været med til at afprøve den nye digitale platform TelePal, der er udviklet til palliative patienter. Platformen er endnu på forsøgsplanet, men sikrer en god kontakt mellem patienter, pårørende og det palliative team.”

Læs hele artiklen hos Kræftens Bekæmpelse

Arbejdet er støttet af Knæk Cancer.

Du kan læse mere om TelePal-projektet her.

Results from LOVOT study published

Results from study with persons with dementia and the social robot LOVOT has been published in the international journal: JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies.

LOVOTs

The conclusion of the study is:

  • The LOVOT robot is the next generation of social robots with advanced artificial intelligence.
  • The vast majority of persons with dementia accepted the social robot LOVOT.
  • LOVOT had positive effects, opened up communication, and facilitated interpersonal interaction.
  • Although LOVOT did not create noticeable effects on social well-being, it gave individual persons a respite from everyday life.
  • Some residents were overstimulated by emotions after interacting with LOVOT.
  • Health care professionals accepted the social robot and view LOVOT as a new tool in the work with persons with dementia.

Read the full article: “Use of a Social Robot (LOVOT) for Persons With Dementia: Exploratory Study“.

Ny artikel om sundhedskompetencer i Future Patient projektet

Hjerteportalen.dk er en digital værktøjskasse med information om sygdommen hjertesvigt, 80 videoer med patienter og pårørende, dialog funktion med sundhedsprofessionelle på tværs af sektorer og modul til at vise data (skridt, vægt, blodtryk, puls og søvn).

Nye resultater fra forskningsprojektet Future Patient – Telerehabilitering af hjertesvigtspatienter viser, at Hjerteportalen kan:

  • Øge patienternes digitale sundhedskompetencer
  • Øge motivation
  • Øge patienternes evne til at engagere sig i digitale medier ifm. håndtering af egen sygdom

Det er en forudsætning, at teknologien er designet til at understøtte patientbehov med hensyn til uddannelsesindholdet i programmet, og at teknologien er tilgængelig fortrinsvis tidligt i rehabiliteringsprocessen for at sikre et optimalt resultat.

Du kan læse om de nye forskningsresultater i den videnskabelige artikel (på engelsk):
Increased motivation for and use of digital services in heart failure patients participating in a telerehabilitation program: a randomized controlled trial.

Ny publikation om brug af videogames til hjertepatienter

Den potentielle anvendelse af kommercielt tilgængelige aktive videospil til hjerterehabilitering

Baggrund

Kommercielt tilgængelige aktive videospil (AVG’er) er for nylig blevet brugt til rehabilitering i nogle specifikke patientpopulationer, men sjældent hos dem med kardiovaskulær sygdom (CVD). Kommercielt tilgængelige AVG’er er designet til at øge motivationen for kontinuerlig leg, hvilket kunne være anvendeligt til den langsigtede hjerterehabiliteringsproces.

Formål

At vurdere effektiviteten af AVG-induceret fysisk træning, sikkerhed og patientengagement ved at anvende kommercielt tilgængelige AVG’er til hjerterehabilitering.

Metoder

Scoping review

Resultater

Blandt 120 gennemgåede artikler var 5 (4,2 %) berettigede til inklusion, hvoraf 3 (2,5 %) blev rapporteret af samme forskningsgruppe. De anvendte AVG-konsoller var Xbox Kinect og Nintendo Wii, og sportsrelaterede programmer blev brugt til interventionen. Der forekom ingen uønskede hjertehændelser i de identificerede undersøgelser, og frafaldsraten havde en tendens til at være lav.

Konklusioner

AVG’er ser ud til at være sikre og gennemførlige til at fremme en aktiv livsstil hos patienter med CVD. Effektiviteten af AVG’er alene som en terapeutisk øvelse til at forbedre fysisk funktion kan dog være begrænset.

Link til udgivelsen

Ny publikation om portaler til telerehabilitering

Morimoto Y, Takahashi T, Sawa R, Saitoh M, Morisawa T, Kagiyama N, Kasai T, Dinesen B, Hollingdal M, Refsgaard J, Daida H
Web Portals for Patients With Chronic Diseases: Scoping Review of the Functional Features and Theoretical Frameworks of Telerehabilitation Platforms
J Med Internet Res 2022;24(1):e27759
doi: 10.2196/27759PMID: 35084355

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has required an increased need for rehabilitation activities applicable to patients with chronic diseases. Telerehabilitation has several advantages, including reducing clinic visits by patients vulnerable to infectious diseases. Digital platforms are often used to assist rehabilitation services for patients in remote settings. Although web portals for medical use have existed for years, the technology in telerehabilitation remains a novel method.

Objective: This scoping review investigated the functional features and theoretical approaches of web portals developed for telerehabilitation in patients with chronic diseases.

Methods: PubMed and Web of Science were reviewed to identify articles associated with telerehabilitation. Of the 477 nonduplicate articles reviewed, 35 involving 14 portals were retrieved for the scoping review. The functional features, targeted diseases, and theoretical approaches of these portals were studied.

Results: The 14 portals targeted patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular, osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis diseases, and stroke and breast cancer survivors. Monitoring/data tracking and communication functions were the most common, followed by exercise instructions and diary/self-report features. Several theoretical approaches, behavior change techniques, and motivational techniques were found to be utilized.

Conclusions: The web portals could unify and display multiple types of data and effectively provide various types of information. Asynchronous correspondence was more favorable than synchronous, real-time interactions. Data acquisition often required assistance from other digital tools. Various functions with patient-centered principles, behavior change strategies, and motivational techniques were observed for better support shifting to a healthier lifestyle. These findings suggested that web portals for telerehabilitation not only provided entrance into rehabilitation programs but also reinforced participant-centered treatment, adherence to rehabilitation, and lifestyle changes over time.

New publication on telerehabilitation of heart failure patients

Effects of Telerehabilitation Interventions on Heart Failure Management (2015-2020): Scoping Review by Schacksen et al 2021 in JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol 2021;8(4):e29714.

Objective

The aim of this scoping review was to assess the effects of telerehabilitation in the management of heart failure by systematically reviewing the available scientific literature within the period from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020.

Conclusions

It was found that there is a tendency toward improvement in patients’ quality of life and physical capacity when telerehabilitation was used in heart failure management. The outcome measures of depression, anxiety, and adherence to the intervention were found to be positive. Additional research is needed to determine more precise and robust effects of telerehabilitation.