Telerehabilitation experiences of patients with heart failure: a qualitative scoping review

Background: Telerehabilitation has emerged as a promising alternative to in-person cardiac rehabilitation for patients with heart failure. Understanding patients’ experiences can provide valuable insights into what makes telerehabilitation successful and identify opportunities for improvement. Aim: This scoping review aimed to explore qualitative evidence relating to the at-home telerehabilitation service experiences of people living with heart failure. Methods: In accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute conduct of scoping reviews, a database search was conducted of Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature via EBSCOhost, Turning Research into Practice and Scopus using key search terms. Grey literature was also searched. Qualitative or qualitative components of mixed-method studies were included if they were published in English between 2018 and 2023, and included adults >18 years with a diagnosis of heart failure. Results: Eight studies met the inclusion criteria for the review with a combined sample of 242 patients. Themes identified pertained to patients’ perceptions of telerehabilitation, clinician support, increased engagement and adherence, symptom management, technical difficulty, information overload and lack of human interaction. Conclusions: This scoping review found that telerehabilitation has the potential to significantly improve the health of people with heart failure by promoting self-care, patient engagement and symptom management. Further longitudinal studies to evaluate the effects of and sustainability of improvements to health offered by telerehabilitation would be beneficial.