App-based follow-up post cardiac rehabilitation: an implementation project

The aim of this project is to prepare for the implementation of app-based follow-up after participation in cardiac rehabilitation.

This project builds on the PhD project Long-term follow-up of cardiac patients with a smartphone-application. Building on findings from the PhD project, we aimed to accelerate the implementation of evidence-based knowledge into practice.

To prepare for the implementation of app-based individualized follow-up after cardiac rehabilitation (CR), both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied. First, we explored patients’ experiences with one year of app-based follow-up, followed by an evaluation of long-term effects (four years post-intervention).

We also assessed healthcare providers’ and managers’ perceived acceptability and appropriateness of the intervention, identifying significant barriers at the macro level. As a result, the planed implementation strategy was replaced by two sub-studies:

• an evaluation of health literacy among cardiac rehabilitation participants
• evaluation of the effect of one year of app-based follow-up post-CR on health literacy.