Harnessing technological innovation to improve cardiac rehabilitation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Harnessing technological innovation to improve cardiac rehabilitation
IRAS ID
219019
Contact name
Oliver Peacock
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 0 days
Research summary
Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is integral to the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and is offered to individuals after a cardiac event to aid recovery and prevent further illness. Despite the known benefits, only 44% of eligible patients take up Phase III CR in the UK and only half of patients complete the course. The main reasons for poor uptake reflects the need to co-ordinate a centre-based service that inevitably introduces barriers for patients. This undermines the potential effectiveness of CR.\n\nPhysical activity is the cornerstone of CR and structured exercise is even more effective than endovascular intervention (i.e. stents). However, patients are only supported during occasional centre-based classes and accessibility barriers limit participation. With advances in wearable technology it is now possible to capture physical activity with an accuracy that enables CR to be delivered in the community – providing feedback and support outside of a hospital-based setting.\n\nTechnology–enabled physical activity feedback that maps onto CR guidelines is now achievable but the challenge is to ensure that this is accessible and useful to patients and healthcare professionals. The aim of this research is to work with patients and clinical teams to establish how to present data and information on free-living physical activity to enable CR to be delivered in the community.\n\nWe aim to recruit 40 patients from primary and secondary care routes with the support of the Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust and GP practices in BANES. Participants will wear activity monitors for one week to measure their daily physical activity and then attend a one-to-one semi-structured interview. Framework analysis will be used to gauge participant understanding and interpretation of feedback as well as practitioner views about how this approach could be embedded alongside current systems and processes.\n
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/NW/0132
Date of REC Opinion
20 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion