Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 17, 2025
A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Published on: April 19, 2019
Cardiac Rehabilitation During Quarantine in COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges for Center-Based Programs
Florent Besnier1, Mathieu Gayda1, Anil Nigam1
1Preventive Medicine and Physical Activity Centre and Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC; Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC.
Insights
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted cardiac rehabilitation (CR) services. Developing remote, home-based CR programs using telemedicine is crucial for public health and cardiac patient care.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Public Health
- Telemedicine
Background:
- Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a vital, evidence-based intervention for cardiac patients.
- The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread disruption and cessation of traditional CR programs.
- This cessation poses significant public health risks due to the well-documented benefits of CR.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the urgent need for developing remote, home-based CR programs.
- To advocate for the integration of telemedicine into routine CR care and clinical research.
- To leverage the current health emergency as an opportunity to advance CR accessibility.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on remote home-based CR programs.
- Discussion of the feasibility and benefits of telemedicine in CR delivery.
- Analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on CR service availability.
Main Results:
- While remote CR literature has grown, implementation has been limited to research settings.
- The COVID-19 crisis has amplified the relevance and potential of remote CR solutions.
- Widespread smartphone and internet access facilitate the adoption of home-based CR.
Conclusions:
- Remote, home-based CR programs are essential to ensure continuity of care during health crises.
- Telemedicine offers a scalable solution to expand CR access to a larger patient population.
- Integrating remote CR into clinical practice and research is imperative for future cardiac patient management.
Abstract:
Because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, many cardiac rehabilitation (CR) services and programs are stopped. Because CR is a class I level A recommendation with clinical benefits that are now well documented, the cessation of CR programs can lead to dramatic consequences in terms of public health. We propose here a viewpoint of significant interest about the sudden need to develop remote home-based CR programs both in clinical research and in clinical care routine. This last decade, the literature on remote home-based CR programs has been increasing, but to date only clinical research experiences have been implemented. Benefits are numerous and the relevance of this approach has obviously increased with the actual health emergency. The COVID-19 crisis, the important prevalence of smartphones, and high-speed Internet during confinement should be viewed as an opportunity to promote a major shift in CR programs with the use of telemedicine to advance the health of a larger number of individuals with cardiac disease.
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