Background: The REHA2030-project aimed to implement telerehabilitation for stroke patients to be able to train at home with a robotic therapy device and support from therapists via the internet, especially for people living in rural areas. The system was designed and installed on tablet computers for patients and therapists.

Method: A cost-benefit consideration was part of the project as an economic analysis and based on the field test. After the literature research of relevant cost and benefit parameters for telerehabilitation, the main step was to analyze them based on a qualitative survey. The focus was on the perspectives of patients, therapists, relatives as well as the overall economic benefit.

Findings: The main findings are: (1) Regarding the benefits, two out of three patients were very satisfied with their therapy; for therapists, the time needed for preparation was reduced; and for relatives, no transport services (and costs) were needed. (2) Cost savings amounted to 21.62 EUR per patient compared to conventional therapy. (3) Moreover, 9.9 minutes more training time was reached compared to conventional therapy, which can be traced back to the increased level of motivation of the patients.

Discussion: It is critical to note, that the costs can vary due to different conditions, e.g. many people already have a tablet and so costs might be lower. Limiting the generalizability of the results is the small sample size (three patients and seven therapists), whereby the results have shown that this format encourages patients to exercise and underline results from other studies.

Authors:
Birgit Aigner-Walder, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Austria
Stephanie Putz, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Austria

About the Presenter(s)
Stephanie Putz is Junior Researcher at Institute for Applied Research on Ageing at Carinthia University of Applied Sciences.
Current research priorities are demographic change, regional developments and challenges in the healthcare system.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-p-84b071194/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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