Telerehabilitation is a model of care that aims to provide larger doses of therapy a patient’s home. Importantly, as a method, it seeks to enable therapists and not replace them. It does so by leveraging digital technology that allows clinicians to play a greater role in additional therapy patients choose to do in their own home.
The Don Gnocchi Calo Foundation (DGF) has been working with Evolv since 2016 to explore the application of VirtualRehab in telerehabilitation settings. In this collaborative project, DGF sought to develop a state-of-the art service delivery model that demonstrated continuity during the rehabilitation process and facilitated tele-rehab to improve the quality of life of neuro patients while reducing costs for the organisation. To quote Dr Furio Gramatica from the project, “The challenges of aging and chronicity require innovative models that optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of treatment; this is made possible by the use of enabling technologies that objectively and dynamically measure the results of the rehabilitation treatment.”
DGF set up a cross platform telerehabilitation system that used VirtualRehab in the home of their service users. The system enabled “on-line” telerehab, where a clinician watches and remotely facilitates therapy via video link -maintaining a form of tele-presence.
To test this approach, the team setup a pilot study in a simulated home environment with 20 patients. They reported that the system was stable and reliable (with over 150 hours of use) and found that all their patients were enthusiastic about the use of the system with an average System Usability Scale score of 85.
Following the success of their pilot, the team at the DGF are now rolling out their system into the homes of 40 stroke, orthopaedic and Multiple Sclerosis patients in Milan. The team at DGF are keen to develop this work further by exploring how the VirtualRehab assessment module can be used to collect range of motion scores over time and how additional biosensors might further enhance their setup.
At Evolv, we are excited to see the outcomes from DGF’s innovative work and are grateful to be part of this journey. As the market for the telerehabilitation matures we are proud to be working with forward thinking clinicians who are on the forefront of new models of care.