6 Tips to Increase Home Exercise Adherence

Patients need to be active players in their recovery as well. We know this as PTs, but we need to teach our patients this concept.

Here are some tips to try

• Understand why they’re doing an exercise⁣
• When best to use an exercise⁣
• A short yet concise list (3-5 exercises)⁣
• It is convenient – minimal equipment and positions they already spend most of their time in
• They know that some exercises can be broken up throughout the day instead of all at once⁣
• Keep them accountable – ask them if they’ve been doing it⁣

Ask yourself if you’re implementing these strategies when creating a home exercise program.

Another method I’ve tried is asking the patient how much time would they be willing to give for exercises each day. Is it 10 minutes? 15 minutes? Great. Keep this time frame in mind when creating the program but even make it shorter. For instance, I give them 5 exercises for home but point out my top 3 out of the 5. If they do the 3, that makes me happy. If they do all 5, that makes me elated.

And then give positive reinforcement when they tell you that they’ve been doing their exercises. They want to be appreciated and acknowledged when they gave their time outside of their session to do the exercises. 

I hope these tips are helpful to you and your patients!