Did you know?
- Only a third of the one million people who have a heart attack each year in Europe have access to cardiac rehabilitation
- More than two in five people who have had a cardiovascular event will have another within two years
- Cardiovascular disease continues to be the main cause of death in Europe, with 1.8 million deaths every year at a cost of around €210 billion every year.
- COVID-19 has sharpened the urgency to provide people with health support that is easily accessible
Our mission:
Rehab+ is designed to future-proof cardiac rehabilitation and to make cardiac rehabilitation accessible to more patients in the immediate aftermath of a heart attack. We put patients at the centre — our approach focuses on understanding patients’ needs and pain points in this difficult process. At every step, patients and caregivers have co-created our solution via patient interviews and working sessions, applying a human centered design approach.
We believe in transforming patient care pathways – Our 10-strong consortium of EU organisations including rehabilitation hospitals, payors, professional cardiology societies, a university center for cardiology research and a patient forum, are now working to evaluate the impact of the solution on people’s lives.
What is Rehab+?
- Rehab+ supports patients for a period of over a year, helping them transition from passive, recovery mindset into an active one of self-care.
- Rehab+ is an innovative digital cardiac tele-rehab solution that walks with cardiac patients after a heart attack, as they transition back to their daily lives. It supports and equips patients to build their capabilities to stay engaged with their own health, to adopt and establish long lasting healthier lifestyles and thereby manage their cardiac risk factors as a chronic condition to prevent a next heart attack.
- Conveniently delivered through an app, Rehab+ provides access to regular support from a human coach who helps them assess their lifestyle and set their own personal lifestyle objectives to reduce their cardiac risk. Through the app, patients can track their own progress towards their goals, receive educational content based on their personal needs and situation, and access community support via group sessions.
- Research corroborates the importance of key elements of our approach, specifically early intervention, e-health technology and the importance of self-care.
- Rehab+ is being implemented in four rehabilitation centres in Spain and the Netherlands and will be evaluated by Maastricht University.
In the next year we will ...
- Implement Rehab+ in routine care in four partner hospitals
- Improve the design of Rehab+ based on users’ feedback
- Disseminate learnings and results
- Conduct a scientific evaluation of the program’s impact for patients, healthcare teams and centers (led by Maastricht University)
- Discuss further uptake of Rehab+ in new centers in Netherlands and Spain and potentially in additional countries
Achievements to date
- Rehab+ program and implementation blueprint in centers has been co-created with patients, cardiologists, rehab teams and centers.
- Starting at discharge, Rehab+ is structured in key phases that meet patients’ needs at every stage as well as care pathway requirements.
- Rehab+ has been awarded an Education grant 2021 by EIT Health, to promote Healthcare innovation.
- 10-member strong consortium, led by Amgen and including Liva Healthcare as technology provider, four rehabilitation hospitals, three regional payors and Maastricht University (Center for Cardiology Research)
- Endorsement of two national scientific societies and one national patient association (see below)
Why is it an EIT Health Project?
Rehab+ addresses a significant gap in cardiac recovery, which has been further exacerbated by the pandemic. The program goals are aligned with three of EIT Health’s focus areas:
- Fostering healthy lives through behavioral change – Rehab+ aims to put patients in the drivers’ seat of their healthcare.
- Enabling environment for healthcare transformation – we introduce a new coaching role to transform post MI care.
- Achieving Health Continuum – starting right after discharge, Rehab+ is integrated in the post-MI pathway, helping patients stay within the system.
Partners
Rehab+ is being cocreated with patients and rehabilitation teams. These are the consortium partners:
Program leader: Amgen Europe and Amgen Spain
Technology platform: Liva Healthcare
Implementation:
La Paz university Hospital (Madrid)
Vall d’Hebron Hospital, (Barcelona)
Virgen de la Victoria, (Malaga)
Zuyderland Hospital in Sittard-Geleen (Netherlands)
Regional Payors:
Servicio Madrileño de Salud, SERMAS
Servicio Andaluz de Salud, SAS
Servicio Català de la Salut, Cat Salut
Evaluation: Maastricht University, Center for Cardiology Research
Rehab+ is endorsed by:
Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC)
Netherlands Society of Cardiology (NVVC)
Foro Español de Pacientes (Spanish Patients Forum)
References
Strategies to implement prevention programs for post MI patients: Rehab+ solution elements are corroborated by research.
Piepoli MF, Corrà U, Dendale P, et al. Challenges in secondary prevention after acute myocardial infarction: A call for action.
European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2016;23(18):1994-2006. doi:10.1177/2047487316663873
Differentiating factor coach: proof of efficiency and impact in patient adherence to program and behavioral outcomes
Komkova A, Brandt C, Hansen Pedersen D, Emneus M, Sortsø C Electronic Health Lifestyle Coaching Among Diabetes Patients in a Real-Life Municipality Setting: Observational Study
JMIR Diabetes 2019;4(1):e12140. doi: 10.2196/12140
E-health solutions such as Rehab+ will be more and more present in cardiovascular healthcare and prevention, with increasing importance of cocreation with patients and healthcare professionals
Frederix I, Caiani EG, Dendale P, et al. ESC e-Cardiology Working Group Position Paper: Overcoming challenges in digital health implementation in cardiovascular medicine.
European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2019;26(11):1166-1177. doi:10.1177/2047487319832394
Digital tele-rehabilitation is already proven to reduce healthcare and societal costs. It has also shown to be at least as cost efficient as conventional cardiac rehabilitation
Brouwers, R.W.M., van Exel, H.J., van Hal, J.M.C. et al. Cardiac telerehabilitation as an alternative to centre-based cardiac rehabilitation.
Neth Heart J 28, 443–451 (2020).
