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(Dr. Mohan Karunanithi) Every year there's about
55,000 Australians who suffer a heart attack.
That’s, when you look at it,
in terms of scale it’s one in every ten minutes
somebody’s having a heart attack.
So it’s really quite significant.
(Professor Darren Walters) And once you’ve had a heart
attack you’re at high risk for further problems
over the course of your life.
One thing that you can do that will help prevent people needing to
come back into hospital is to undertake cardiac rehabilitation.
Cardiac Rehabilitation's really an overall comprehensive
programme around life style modification,
risk factor modification.
The development of the sustainable exercise strategies
to lower your risk into the future.
The trouble is, for various reasons we can’t get people to cardiac rehab.
They either are not referred or if they’re referred
they don’t come or if they do come they don’t see it through.
Imagine if you could conduct this research using a smart phone.
Put physiological parameters into the phone
like a weight and blood pressure, track it over time,
do all the things you'd do in a rehab setting.
(Dr. Mohan Karunanithi) The Smartphone app captures
health measurements and the life style risk factor modification.
It also provides education and motivational components
that will give you an SMS text messages.
The information from there is uploaded
into a clinical programme which a care mentor
uses to provide weekly consultation through the six week programme.
(Professor Darren Walters) We get twice as many
people through using this technology
than we could if we just referred them to a
community based rehabilitation programme
and that has the potential over the long course.
If you double the number of people going to rehab
to save lives and save money.
(Dr. Mohan Karunanithi) The smart phone helps them to complete
the cardiac rehab programme
simply because it aligns with the patient’s daily routine.
(Chris Porter) My name is Chris and I got the app
from Queensland health after I had a heart event.
The app prompt me with my rehabilitation every day.
They sent information through and motivational and educational tutorials
and so every day I would see more and more changes in my lifestyle
and moving away from the lifestyle that I had
that created the heart event.
(Dr. Mohan Karunanithi) It takes them through providing education
so that it can inform them of their health condition and what more...
and how to motivate themselves into self managing the condition.
(Chris Porter) Managing my own rehabilitation
certainly gives you a certain amount of empowerment
that you’re not having to rely on going to the doctors or
going to some sort of health professional all the time.
(Professor Darren Walters) CSIRO have been a pleasure to work with.
I mean finding someone who will partner and make your concepts
or your ideas and turn them into a reality,
that’s... that’s been, you know, very satisfying.
It’s been an incredible journey.
(Dr. Mohan Karunanithi) Without working with Queensland Health
we wouldn’t have actually been able to deliver the care delivery
that closely aligns with what is...
currently providing the traditional skill.
(Professor Darren Walters) We have demonstrated “Wow, this works”.
People have embraced the technology and that’s the exciting phase.
We have embedded this now in usual practice for people
and we’re currently transitioned it into a real option
for people in Metro North and in West Morton.
And I think this trial for the first time gives you
that level of evidence and confidence that these new interventions do work.
(Dr. Mohan Karunanithi) Well if you look at cardiac rehab and the app that
we’ve got now it addresses risk factors very similar
to other chronic diseases.
And what we are looking at extending is
to this pulmonary diseases, diabetes and heart failure.
(Professor Darren Walters) All of these conditions could be managed
through a similar type platform.
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