Patient-reported preferences in eHealth-based cardiac rehabilitation: A qualitative investigation of behavior change techniques, barriers and facilitators

Patient-reported preferences in eHealth-based cardiac rehabilitation: A qualitative investigation of behavior change techniques, barriers and facilitators

Blog Article

Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) reduces recurrent cardiac events and mortality in patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD).Innovative eHealth methods can facilitate CR uptake and effectiveness by addressing barriers associated with clinic-based rehabilitation.Tailoring eHealth-based CR to patient preferences is needed to further enhance CR.Purpose: To identify preferred behavior change techniques (BCTs) as well as barriers and facilitators for the different health behaviors targeted in eHealth-based CR among Ash Catchers patients who have been referred to CR.Methods: Thirty-nine patients were interviewed in nine focus groups in The Netherlands, Germany, and Spain.

A thematic analysis, using a combined deductive and inductive approach to coding, was conducted to identify BCTs and barriers and facilitators to behavior change.Behaviors under investigation included physical activity, medication adherence, eating a cardiac healthy-diet, stress reduction and smoking cessation.Results: The perceived helpfulness of BCTs depended on the specific behavior targeted.Common barriers were negative emotional state and physical limitations.A desire to feel physically or mentally well and having experienced a cardiac life event were the most common facilitators across health behaviors.

Specific BCTs, barriers and facilitators were found for each of the health behavior.Conclusions: Behavior change techniques that patients preferred for each health behavior targeted in eHealth-based CR were identified.A negative emotional state, experiencing a life event, and improving physical functioning are important barriers and facilitators in multiple behaviors targeted in eHealth-based CR programs.Additional tailoring of interventions to patient Lozenges preferences for BCTs and patient-specific barriers and facilitators per health behavior could lead to further improvement of eHealth-based CR.