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Advantages of Digital Prehabilitation

Digital prehabilitation extends traditional prehab by incorporating technology for remote, personalized preparation, yielding several enhanced benefits that address modern healthcare challenges.

  • Enhanced Accessibility and Reduced Barriers: One of the primary advantages is its ability to overcome geographical and logistical hurdles, allowing patients to access programs from home via smartphones or apps, which is particularly beneficial for those in remote areas or with mobility issues. This reduces travel time and costs, making healthcare more inclusive and efficient for patients who already own digital devices. Studies highlight high feasibility and acceptability, with over 90% adherence in orthopaedic cases, as it eliminates the need for frequent clinic visits.
  • Cost-Effectiveness and Resource Optimization: By shifting to digital platforms, prehabilitation minimizes the strain on healthcare resources, such as staff and facilities, potentially lowering overall costs while maintaining patient safety and quality. This is crucial amid resource shortages, where digital tools can streamline processes and reduce burdens on overwhelmed systems. For instance, individualized programs have been shown to decrease bed days and complications, leading to economic savings for both patients and providers.
  • Personalization and Improved Clinical Outcomes: Digital tools enable tailored interventions based on patient data, such as algorithms assessing vulnerabilities to generate customized exercise, nutrition, and psychological plans. This leads to better physical fitness, reduced surgical complications, faster recovery, and lower readmission rates—evidenced by improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength in virtual programs. Integration with wearables allows real-time monitoring, further optimizing functional capacity and psychological readiness.
  • High Patient Engagement and Psychological Benefits: Features like app-based scheduling, progress tracking, and virtual support foster greater adherence and empowerment, with tools for mental preparation reducing anxiety and enhancing quality of life. Multimodal programs, including exercise specialists’ remote invitations, promote sustained participation and better surgical outcomes.
  • Scalability and Integration with Healthcare Systems: Digital prehab can be easily scaled for broader populations, integrated into electronic health records, and adapted for various surgeries, offering a flexible solution that supports perioperative care without requiring extensive infrastructure.

Examples of People Who Would Benefit from Digital Prehabilitation

Digital prehabilitation is particularly advantageous for diverse patient groups facing major procedures, where optimizing health preoperatively can significantly impact recovery. For instance, older adults undergoing colorectal surgery benefit from tools that assess geriatric vulnerabilities and provide tailored programs to mitigate risks like frailty. Cancer patients, such as those preparing for thoracic or elective major surgeries, gain from technology-enhanced interventions that improve accessibility and reduce travel burdens while boosting physical and nutritional status. Orthopaedic patients awaiting hip or knee replacements, often with baseline impairments, see high adherence to digital platforms that enhance fitness and psychological readiness. Pre-frail or frail individuals, including those in thoracic surgery, overcome barriers through smartwatch-based programs that facilitate home-based exercise and monitoring. Even non-surgical candidates like office workers with musculoskeletal conditions can use digital prehab for preventive stretching and training to prevent issues from prolonged sitting. Overall, it identifies and supports those with modifiable risks, such as smokers or the nutritionally deficient, ensuring targeted interventions for better outcomes.

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