ABSTRACT
Telerehabilitation may provide an ideal opportunity to either improve access to PR and/or help maintain positive results following a traditional PR programme. Telerehabilitation is in fact a unique facet of the telehealth arena, as it moves beyond telehealth monitoring and communication to active patient and therapist participation in the rehabilitation process, with less direct therapist−patient interaction than what is typically provided. Studies illustrate the potential of telehealth to facilitate the delivery of PR to patients in their home. Currently there is insufficient evidence to properly evaluate the cost-effectiveness of telehealth PR.
This chapter will focus on definition, rationale and opportunities for telerehabilitation and explore signals and models (home-based type programmes) used, results of telerehabilitation in COPD in chronic respiratory insufficiency patients, risk/disadvantages, major barriers that hamper the wider diffusion and economic considerations.
In summary, the use of telehealth technology shows promise to address some major barriers for PR delivery in that it allows for distribution of healthcare services and exchange of information between a healthcare provider and a patient in different geographical locations, and therefore can provide an important resource to reach people who live in remote communities or have difficulty accessing traditional PR centres.
The potential of telerehabilitation to reduce barriers and improve care is enticing. However, much of the research to date has not explored the impact of the introduction of telerehabilitation on a systems level, incorporating data beyond efficacy in the planning and implementation.
