REACH-HF Core Training

Healthcare professionals interested in delivering REACH-HF must attend a two-day remotely-delivered core training course.

What is REACH-HF?

A comprehensive 12 week home-based, health professional-facilitated cardiac rehabilitation programme for patients with heart failure.

More about REACH-HF

What does the training involve?

Training and procurement of the REACH-HF programme is led by clinicians in the Heart Manual Department (NHS Lothian).

Topics covered in training will enable you to confidently facilitate the programme and includes:

• Self-management in heart failure
• The psychological aspects of heart failure
• Health behaviour change
• Supporting family and caregivers
• Physical activity and chair-based exercise

More about the training: https://services.nhslothian.scot/theheartmanual/reachhf/

How do I become a REACH-HF facilitator?

Healthcare professionals must attend a two-day remotely-delivered core training course. This core training will enable you to choose your mode of REACH-HF delivery:- paper-based or digital or indeed a bit of both!

Training 2023 – September and November

The REACH-HF Service Delivery Guide has further information: http://sites.exeter.ac.uk/reachhf/reach-hf-service-delivery-guide/

The Wirral Community Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Beacon site staff are happy to speak to interested cardiac rehab teams on their experience of the ‘real-life’ rollout of REACH-HF. For more details please see: https://www.nice.org.uk/sharedlearning/delivering-rehabilitation-enablement-in-chronic-heart-failure-reach-hf-in-wirral

If you are interested in participating in REACH-HF training, please contact: heart.manual@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk or Louise.taylor@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk Tel: 0131 537 9127

How much does it cost?

The costs of REACH-HF facilitator training are:

• £350 for the 2-day course per participant
• Plus a recommended purchase of 10 Heart Failure manuals each @£40 (=£400, including delivery). Alternatively, some services may wish to order the patient manuals in bulk

Digital REACH-HF

Funding from the British Heart Foundation has helped us adapt and develop a digital/internet-based version of REACH-HF (D REACH-HF). In collaboration with Health and Care Innovations (HCI) we are piloting this in Early Adopter Sites and hoping this will be available for wider roll-out in 2024 (post Early Adopter Site evaluation).

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic we were only able to test the feasibility and acceptability of D REACH-HF in a limited number of participants.

In 2023-24, we intend to get further feedback of the D REACH-HF platform from 6 or 7 Early Adopter Sites (Guys Hospital, Provide Essex, Frimley, Southern Trust (N Ireland), Southampton Hospital, St Thomas’, and Brompton/Harefield Hospital) who have agreed to participate in a pilot evaluation before we consider a wider roll out across the NHS. Offering patients with HF a digital option of receiving cardiac rehabilitation in addition to the traditional centre-based modes of delivery will give patients more choice and should help to improve the very low uptake of cardiac rehab in heart failure.

Please contact support-reachhf@hci.digital if you are interested in top-up training for D REACH-HF.