Evaluation of the Cardihab Smartphone Application for the Delivery of Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac Rehabilitation patients who are doing a home-based or partially home-based program will be offered access to a smart phone app- the Cardihab App - to use for their program. Patients will be monitored weekly for 6 weeks by cardiac rehabilitation clinicians and will be contacted by research staff to complete a questionnaire about the usability and acceptance of the app. 5 patients will be asked to consent to an interview about the usability and acceptance of the app. The app involves entering own health data i.e. blood pressure, weight, a symptom diary, exercise levels and individual health goals. Patients can be provided with a blood pressure machine and/or scales if part of their care plan if they do not have their own machine or scales. Loaned machines can be linked to the app via Bluetooth.It also includes short video clips providing education and audio recordings for stress relief. Input would involve 10 minutes every day. Education videos consist of: Causes of angina, Causes of heart attack, Living with heart attack, Risk factors, What is a heart attack? with links to Food and Nutrition, Heart attack warning signs and The Heart Foundation literature. The app is available to participants as part of their 6 week cardiac rehabilitation program where they are monitored weekly when using the app. Thereafter the app will remain on their phone for their own reference and use. All data entered in the app is captured on a portal accessed by the cardiac rehabilitation clinician who phones the patient each week to review progress. Interviews will take place in a focus group, which will be facilitated by an experienced researcher and recorded by the PI.