eTherapy - Hochschule Campus Wien

Project duration: 1.1.2020 until 31.12.2021

The eTherapy project is developing an app for people who have had a stroke. The app is designed to provide monitored support for daily exercises aimed at improving upper limb and trunk function, to be performed at home alongside ongoing therapy, using telerehabilitation.

Currently, home exercises are mostly passed on verbally or in writing within the framework of occupational and physical therapy. In order to promote the safety and motivation of the patients, the central core elements are exercise videos, which can be tailored to the needs of the patient group and compiled into an individualized exercise program.

Special attention is paid to the integration of adherence and motivation enhancing elements as well as the usability of the system with regard to the special target group. Similar systems currently available have so far been designed primarily for the English-speaking world.

The app is being developed in interdisciplinary collaboration between the Health Assisting Engineering, Computer Science and Digital Communications, and Software Design and Engineering programs.

By means of a detailed needs analysis with quantitative and qualitative methods, the requirements for the app are first determined and which criteria it must fulfill in order to be as usable and motivating as possible. The app programming is continuously supported by evaluation measures with therapists and patients in order to be able to swiftly integrate new requirements in the form of several prototypes.

In a final three-month study, training effects as well as acceptance, usability and satisfaction with the app will be surveyed.

If you are an occupational or physical therapist working in Vienna or the surrounding area and are interested in participating in the evaluation study, you can find more information and contact details here.

Research Goals

Develop an app to support a home exercise program for individuals who have had a stroke
Evaluation of the app in terms of initial impact effects, acceptance and satisfaction
Linking research and teaching

What is MARTHA? In a project funded by the City of Vienna, an app for people who have had a stroke and their therapists was developed at the FH Campus Wien. The aim of the app "MARTHA" is to support the regular home exercise program to promote motor skills of the upper extremities and trunk. MARTHA stands for "Master Therapy Assistant" and is realized by a virtual character that guides through the home exercise program.