Web-based cardiac rehab tested among rural women

Forty women in rural or remote South Australia were given a way to take cardiac rehabilitation home: Flinders University’s web-based CREW program. In the study, 82.5% began rehabilitation and 60% completed it, according to digital records collected between November 2023 and November 2024.

CREW—Cardiac Rehabilitation Especially for Women—was developed through the Flinders-led CHAP Project, or Country Heart Attack Prevention. Its four educational modules were designed to support self-management, with a care pathway tailored specifically to women with cardiovascular disease and delivered online through telehealth.

That focus addresses a gap identified by the researchers: women participate less often in cardiac rehabilitation, particularly in rural and remote communities, while a lack of women-focused programs can itself be a barrier. Dr. Joyce Ramos of Flinders University said a home-based, gender-tailored approach may help address those challenges.

The study also included interviews with participants and the clinicians delivering rehabilitation. Those conversations described a program that empowered women, reinforced the value of telehealth and helped respond to pressures on health staff and systems. Participants reported high satisfaction with most parts of the program.

So what changes in practice? For rural women referred to rehabilitation, a web-based pathway could make participation possible without relying on access to a women-focused program nearby. For clinicians, CREW offers a model that the study found feasible and acceptable—but it remains a tested program, not evidence that the same completion rate will hold across larger or different communities. The findings were published in Heart, Lung and Circulation.