A new home-based rehabilitation program could help thousands of heart failure patients to achieve a better quality of life.

A new study has found that the Rehabilitation Enablement in Chronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) program, led by the University of Exeter and the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS trust, significantly improved quality of life and is deliverable within NHS cost guidelines.

The program was co-designed by clinicians, academics, patients, and caregivers to help increase participation in rehabilitation therapies for heart failure patients by bringing care into their own homes. The 5-year study received £2million in grant funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research program with contributions from a number of clinical and academic partners from across the UK, including Exeter, Gwent, Birmingham, York, and Dundee.

Approximately 900,000 people are affected by heart failure in the UK, costing the NHS £1bn per year. Although NICE recommend that all people with heart failure should receive rehabilitation, less than 1 in 10 do.

With this in mind, the new 2018 heart failure guidelines from NICE recommend that patients are offered the option of a personalized home-based rehab program that is easily accessible.

The rehabilitation program includes a chair-based exercise that can easily be done at home and a manual with advice on lifestyle and medication. Also included is an interactive booklet designed to facilitate learning from experience and record symptoms, physical activity, and other actions related to self-care. There is another manual for use by caregivers aimed to increase their understanding of heart failure and aspects such as relaxation techniques, helping people come to terms with both the physical and psychological impact of heart failure.

In the study, researchers monitored patients participating in the program for 12 months, and found that their quality of life was significantly improved compared to patients not undergoing rehabilitation. The cost of the intervention was £418 per patient (within the current price that the NHS pays for rehabilitation: £477).

This high-caliber, multi-author study, jointly led by Professor Rod Taylor and Dr. Hasnain Dalal of the University of Exeter, has just been published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Dr. Hasnain Dalal, of the University of Exeter and the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Although previous hospital-based studies have shown an improvement in quality of life and reduction in hospital admissions for patients receiving cardiac rehabilitation, heart failure patients often find it difficult to attend rehabilitation centers in hospitals. This tends to be due to lack of access to transport, poor mobility, and other health problems and can lead to isolation and depression. Our research gives us hope that this more accessible rehabilitation intervention will increase participation and improve patients’ quality of life.”