More and more often patients prefer home-based rehabilitation after cardiac surgery, which is especially beneficial on a long-term basis. In an attempt to find out what approaches and methods are the most effective for patients after cardiac rehabilitation, dedicated research was conducted.
One group of 134 patients chose the in-hospital rehabilitation, while another group of 32 patients was admitted to home-based rehabilitation post cardiac surgery. Patients in the home-based group were supervised at home by a medical doctor and telemonitored daily by a nurse and physical therapist by video conference. There wasn’t a significant difference between patients in these two groups regarding the METS pre-rehab.
As a result of the experiment, patients in both groups significantly increased their exercise capacity during the rehabilitation process. In summary, both types of rehabilitation equally improved the patients’ fitness after cardiac surgery. The home-based post-surgery rehabilitation proved to be equivalent to the in-hospital program.
After cardiac surgery, all patients should have the option of in-home rehabilitation. A professional team of caregivers can monitor the patient’s wellbeing through the telephone and schedule planned visits to the patient’s place for health check-ups. This model should help patients avoid stress and extra travel costs. It should also motivate them to take their well-being and post-surgery rehabilitation into their own hands.
