Let’s cover some
of the basics
For Patients
Rhea for Concussion Recovery is a customised program, tailored to your injury and concussion symptoms. You receive a dynamic rehabilitation and treatment plan, including interactive videos, a symptom tracker, and progress reports you can share with your healthcare provider.
Rhea’s Active Recovery strategy focuses on the core areas of concussion rehabilitation and treatment: physical exercise, range of motion, strength, vision, balance and coordination, overall stress reduction, and sleep.
Rhea’s features include:
• Interactive videos show you exactly how to perform each exercise.
• Reminders to keep your recovery on track.
• Connectivity with wearable devices to monitor your heart rate and provide real-time feedback.
• Ongoing progress evaluation and program optimization.
• The ability to track and share your progress with your healthcare provider.
Watch our video to see Rhea in action.
Rhea was developed by a clinical research team at the University of Toronto, an internationally renowned research institution in concussion and brain health.
In collaboration with some of the world’s leading experts in concussion and neuroscience, we developed a new approach to treating a concussion and other brain health conditions that uses specific movements and strategies to advance the healing process. See our leadership team.
Active Recovery refers to low impact exercises. You may be familiar with the term from your regular workouts – active recovery can be used after more intense workout to help the body recover.
The Active Recovery approach is a new way of treating concussions and other brain injuries and conditions. Several published studies have shown the benefits of structured activity for treating a concussion.
Rhea’s Active Recovery plan has been shown to reduce symptoms and help people recover faster. It’s also widely accessible and requires no special equipment or experience.
Active Recovery is becoming the preferred method of concussion treatment over the traditional ‘passive’ recovery methods for treating a concussion typically involve rest, limiting exposure to loud noises, bright lights, screens, and other activities that are thought to worsen symptoms.
Rhea’s Active Recovery approach is based on the latest science and covers areas from many aspects of rehabilitation and wellbeing focusing on movement exercises, sleep hygiene, the neck and vision, as well as breathing exercises to help individuals recover.
Typically, individuals experience fewer symptoms and recover faster than with other common approaches to treating a concussion.
Historically, the clinical management of concussion has focused on rest following a concussion. The objective was physical and cognitive rest until the individual was symptom-free, in order to ease discomfort from post-concussion symptoms and possibly promote recovery by decreasing energy demands on the brain. While this approach isn’t necessarily ‘wrong’, the Active Recovery approach has been shown to help people recover faster and more fully.
If you have a diagnosed concussion, you can get started with Rhea straight away.
When you sign up online, we’ll ask some basic questions about your symptoms and give you the option of connecting with your activity tracker (e.g. Apple Watch or Fitbit). Depending on where you are in your recovery path and your concussion symptoms, we provide you with the first phase of your Active Recovery program.
Your personalized program includes proactive daily exercises, instructional videos, and supportive educational strategies. We’ll monitor your progress and automatically update your program until you’ve recovered. You’ll also have access to expert support at any time during your recovery from our network of healthcare providers.
Rhea tailors your exercises to match your stage of progress and symptoms.
Healing from a concussion is different from healing a broken bone – there are stages of progression based on passing previous stages, rather than a set healing time. Your program will guide you through a series of exercises including structured aerobic activity and potentially a combination of vision, balance, and neck exercises. After successfully completing the initial stages, Rhea progressively increases physical activity with added components of head acceleration, sensory stimulation, and cognitive burden eventually leading to a full recovery.
Yes, you can use Rhea to recover on your own at home.
However, Rhea is not an online concussion test and does not diagnose concussions. If you think you might have a concussion, you should see a health professional for a diagnosis before using Rhea. You can then use Rhea to monitor your symptoms between appointments and record key recovery milestones. Rhea will automatically adjust your rehabilitation depending on your progress. We still recommend regular check-ins with your healthcare team.
Not necessarily. However, concussion is a complex condition and should be diagnosed by a healthcare professional.
Depending on your symptoms and how you are progressing towards recovery, we may recommend you see a doctor or other specialist should you have difficulty recovering. Rhea can be used to help speed up recovery and record progress and changes between in-person appointments.
Treatment advice may vary from doctor to doctor.
The latest concussion research suggests that Active Recovery can help people recover faster and more fully, and many doctors are now using this approach to treat concussions. Some doctors do continue to use the traditional approach is to recommend rest, limiting exposure to loud noises, bright lights, screens, and other activities that are thought to worsen symptoms.
Research shows that some people with concussions will get better with little or no treatment. However, at the time of diagnosis, it’s unknown who these rapid recovery cases will be. What we do know is that leaving a concussion untreated and being inactive after a brain injury could put you at risk of developing a long-term disability or post-concussion syndrome.
Research also suggests that inactivity can exacerbate or prolong recovery in some brain health conditions such as depression. Some individuals are vulnerable to the negative effects of prolonged rest with respect to physical deconditioning, as well as the secondary symptoms arising from fatigue and depressive symptoms.
Rhea costs $99 for unlimited access to the platform for one year.
This includes a personalized Active Recovery program, access to instructional videos and our online resources, and a network of physicians and specialists familiar with Rhea who can offer additional support. We also provide useful recommendations and activities to avoid concussions and promote healthy habits.
Rhea is an eligible medical expense for Healthcare Spending reimbursement, but please check with your plan to ensure you have coverage.
Yes. You can use Rhea alongside other specialist treatments to recover from a concussion.
Rhea complements in-person treatment by providing support between visits. You’ll also be able to share your progress reports with your health care provider, so they know how your recovery is progressing.
You’ll have a network of concussion specialists who are familiar with Rhea and our Active Recovery approach. Alternatively, you can see a specialist of your choosing outside of the platform.
On average most people take approximately three to four weeks to fully return to all activities, but a percentage of individuals (10-20%) have symptoms from many weeks to months.
However, recovery from a concussion is individualized and assessed on a case-by-case basis. Predicting recovery time for a concussion is challenging, given the unique nature of the injury. Rhea uses a stepwise progression to gradually help people return to school, physical activity, and social life. Your progression is not based on time but based on your response (symptoms and performance) to concussion treatment.
Rhea is currently available in North America.
Research has shown that Rhea’s Active Recovery approach is effective at treating concussions.
However, concussion is a complex condition and, depending on your symptoms and how you are progressing towards recovery, we may recommend you see a doctor or other specialist if you continue to experience difficulties.
Rhea’s exercises are designed to be done with minimal equipment (or none at all).
You will need a resistance band, small hand weights and a kettlebell. If you don’t have those things yet, you can use a towel, cans or water bottles, and a small backpack filled with a few books as alternatives.
For Clinicians
Rhea is an Active Recovery plan tailored to your patient’s injury and symptoms. It compliments in-person care and focuses on the core areas of concussion rehabilitation: physical exercise, range of motion, strength, vision, balance and coordination, overall stress reduction, and sleep.
Developed by a clinical research team at the University of Toronto, an internationally renowned research institution in concussion and brain health, Rhea is grounded in evidence-based science. Active Recovery for concussion rehabilitation has shortened recovery times and led to a complete recovery. Our purpose is to support you and your patients, so they recover faster and avoid setbacks.
At Rhea, we believe no one should go through concussion recovery alone, and that’s why we work with health care professionals to support concussion patients throughout their recovery – especially between visits.
Watch our video to see Rhea in action.
Overall, Rhea frees up time for clinicians to focus on patient care.
Rhea is a resource for your concussion patients. After your diagnosis, Rhea can provide a wealth of knowledge and answer many of your patient’s follow up questions – so they have answers, grounded in evidence based science, before their next appointment. This prevents calls to the clinic between appointments, while ensuring their questions are answered.
Between appointments your patients are working towards recovery. Ongoing optimization of the program based on comprehensive monitoring of response to activities and potential stressors, including data from wearable devices, means clients are being challenged appropriately to facilitate their recovery.
Rhea saves time during follow up appointments. Rhea’s progress reports which provide accurate data on symptom evolution and activity tolerance.
Rhea’s Active Recovery plan is interdisciplinary.
• Your patients are supported in their recovery across multiple core areas of concussion rehabilitation.
• Rhea improves concussion recovery outcomes – and healthy clients are happy clients.
The efficacy of Active Recovery has been well-documented for concussion.
We will be conducting research into Active Recovery for other brain health conditions in the future. See our Resources page for more information.
The onboarding process is quick and efficient, and available across multiple platforms (web, IOS and Android). It can be completed as part of your initial appointment and evaluation, or it can be done independently after the visit.
After answering a series of questions about their injury, symptoms and general activities, Rhea tailors an Active Recovery plan for your patient that enhances your in-person treatments.
Rhea generates progress and symptom reports that can be shared with you and reviewed at follow-up appointments. Our clinical team and advisors are considered international experts and well-versed in the challenges around concussion treatment and the benefits of Active Recovery.
Rhea is available directly to your patients, and is considered a reimbursable expense on many health care spending plans. Rhea costs $99 for one year of access to the platform.
In addition, If you’d like to deploy Rhea through your clinics, we can create a customer package that allows you to realize the benefits of Rhea within your operations.
Contact us at partnerships@getrhea.com.
Rhea takes patient privacy seriously.
We never share patient health information with insurers, employers or anyone else without a patient’s consent.
Data acquired on the Rhea platform is de-identified and stored without personal information
Patients may request deletion of personal and health information at any time.
We comply with privacy regulations globally, like PIPEDA in Canada and HIPAA in the United States.
If you’re interested in becoming part of our provider network, please get in touch with us – we’d love to hear from you.
Unless you regularly treat concussions, treating these complex symptoms might be outside your areas of expertise.
Rhea provides expert concussion support and a turnkey solution for general practitioners to prescribe a personalized rehabilitation strategy based on their assessment of the patient.
Get in touch to request a demo and we’ll show you how Rhea could improve the quality of concussion treatment at your clinic.
