Table of ContentsIntroductionHelp for eHealth SolutionsOverview of TelerehabilitationBarriersThe Future, What NextIntroduction A stroke is a neurological disease in which the blood supply to the brain is disrupted, leading to consequently cell death. Strokes can be divided into ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes. Depending on the affected area, the symptoms of a stroke and the problems that result from it can vary. Complications may include hemiparesis, spasticity, pain, behavioral changes, cognitive impairment, and fatigue. Strokes are more common in men, and women are typically almost five years older than men when they experience their first stroke. Finland has a low stroke mortality rate thanks to excellent care of stroke patients in the acute phase. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayIn 2015, 36,500 strokes occurred in Finland and 4,866 people died as a result of their stroke. Healthcare costs related to strokes amounted to approximately 721.1 million euros. As rehabilitation of stroke patients remains a costly activity, alternative, less costly and more effective treatment strategies are needed to improve healthcare, along with the increasing evolution of e-health. Many new innovations are being created that can improve and advance healthcare. This sparks curiosity as to whether e-health solutions could be useful as an integrated, life-long and cost-effective part of rehabilitation. Helping eHealth Solutions A treatment challenge for stroke patients that has been noted in the literature is that medication adherence among stroke patients is low. The reasons include the patient's lack of motivation, knowledge and memory. A study by Kamal et al. (2015) found a way to remind stroke patient to take medication on time while reducing costs. One eHealth solution to this problem has been the introduction of short, automatic text messages to patients' phones when it is time to take their medications. Additionally, the patient must confirm that they have taken their medication by replying to the message. If no response is sent, the patient will receive a phone call asking if they have taken their medication or not. E-health has also improved patient self-management. Examples include UbiCare SmarteXp technology. It is a stroke recovery engagement solution that connects hospitals and other care providers with stroke patients and caregivers through an interactive platform. This program has been shown to improve the quality of care and provides secondary prevention of a second stroke. Using this technology, the patient receives targeted educational and health messages via a mobile device. Research on this software has shown that 90% of patients feel more connected to their treatment and 86% say they are better able to manage their care. An already implemented part of the telecare concept is the use of telemedicine in stroke care. Telemedicine allows experts from stroke centers or teaching hospitals to participate in the care of a stroke patient at another hospitalwithout them physically assessing the patient themselves. This can ensure that high-quality care is provided to the patient, whether or not the treating hospital has the best subject matter expertise. TeleStroke is a Finnish example of this type of service that leverages telemedicine to support general hospitals and thus improve the care of stroke patients in the acute setting. What similar solution could be implemented in the rehabilitation of stroke patients? Overview of TelerehabilitationTelerehabilitation uses information and communication technologies, such as Internet videoconferencing, telephones, and sensors, as a means of interaction between the clinician and patient. The data collected can then be analyzed by the healthcare professional without the need for physical contact between the parties. The study by Peretti et al. (2017) concludes that telerehabilitation as a rehabilitation method can reduce healthcare costs for both patients and healthcare providers. The study further highlights the importance of providing professionals with adequate training. Some of the great advantages of telerehabilitation include the ability for the patient and healthcare professionals to maintain contact without the need to be geographically close to each other, as well as the ability for patients to be at home while benefiting from ongoing rehabilitation. Some patients, however, may be skeptical about remote interaction. Safro and colleagues (2018) conclude that some parts of therapy may require face-to-face interactions, such as physical therapy assessments. However, they further argue that telerehabilitation, compared to conventional in-clinic therapy, may be more cost-effective and have greater or equal beneficial effects on higher cortical, motor, and mood disorders. Virtual reality (VR), a somewhat established form of therapy for patients suffering from phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder, can be an integral part of telerehabilitation. Significant improvements in Timed Up and Go Test, balance, and performance of basic activities of daily living can be generated with VR training compared to conventional therapy alone. However, it does not seem to show significant results compared to conventional therapy. One of the main benefits of virtual reality is that it allows the person to practice in functions and situations that might otherwise be dangerous. For example, driving training. This may also make it possible to increase the dosage of treatment without increasing staff numbers. Virtual reality can, however, increase the patient's muscle tone and should therefore be used with additional monitoring for spasticity. Movement therapy is a form of telerehabilitation that allows patients to practice physical therapy without the presence of a clinician. Gesture therapy has a computer vision-based system through which a stroke patient can practice arm movement exercises at home or in the clinic. The system provides a virtual environment to facilitate movement training while tracking the patient's hand. The system comes with a grip pressure sensor to include hand and finger rehabilitation. The program can also track the patient's head to detect trunk compensation. It remains of great value to the advancement of rehabilitation, as it has been shown that patients are more motivated through gesture therapy and has contributed to the success of rehabilitation..