Cardiac patients' experiences with a telerehabilitation web portal: Implications for eHealth literacy

Abstract

Objective: The aims of this study are two-fold: 1) To explore how cardiac patients experience their use of a telerehabilitation tool for recuperation from surgery, and 2) To study how the patients' use of the interactive 'Active Heart' web portal affected their eHealth literacy skills.

Methods: The 'Active Heart' telerehabilitation web portal offers patients and their relatives information and exercises for recovery from cardiac surgery. 109 cardiac patients were using the Active Heart web portal for a duration of three months.

Results: 49 patients completed questionnaires that were administered both before and after their use of the portal, resulting in a 45% response rate. Respondents had a mean age of 60.64 ± 10.75 years, and 82% of the respondents were males. The respondents had a positive impression of Active Heart, reporting that it was easy to access, user-friendly, and written in an understandable language. The patients' eHealth literacy skills increased during the trial period.

Conclusion: Use of a cardiac telerehabilitation web portal can be beneficial for patient education and can increase cardiac patients' eHealth literacy skills.

Practice implications: Online telerehabilitation portals may be used as a tool in patient education and cardiac rehabilitation.

Keywords: Cardiac diseases; EHealth literacy; Patient education; Rehabilitation; Tele-rehabilitation.