Innovative rehabilitation technologies for home environments - an overview

A significant number of studies show the positive effects clinical rehabilitation programs have on improving patients' health. However, these studies also, often mention that these health benefits decrease if a post-therapeutic regimen is not integrated into a patients' daily routine. Existing barriers such as travel times to sports facilities, irregular working times, caring for family members or a simple lack of desire are reasons why good intentions quickly fade and the after-care recommendations are not put into practice. The necessary changes in behaviour and in the mind set of a patient that are reached during the clinical rehabilitation process often disappear. The motivation to continue the rehabilitation program at home is low, even if further therapy is necessary for the stabilization of the patients' health. In this paper we describe the need for innovative rehabilitation technologies for home environments after a clinical rehabilitation phase. First we introduce the therapeutic applications like cardiovascular training, fall prevention and stroke rehabilitation as well as the corresponding options for interactive multimedia training devices. After that we describe the stakeholder and system requirements for new prevention and rehabilitation technologies. We give an overview over current projects and ambient technologies enabling health prevention and home rehabilitation. At the end of the paper we argue that these technologies should be integrated into the health systems.