Cardiac rehabilitation is a series of educational and exercise components aimed at teaching participants how to live a healthy lifestyle. By learning about topics such as nutrition, physical fitness and mental wellness, participants learn to reduce their factors for future heart related illness. A new study from the Faculty of Medicine has found that individuals who have experienced a heart attacked are more likely to complete a cardiac rehabilitation program when they have access to it within 14 days of hospital discharge.
“The proven benefits of participation in cardiac rehabilitation are multi-faceted,” says Dr. James Stone, co-author of the study and member of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta. “They include living longer, less-frequent hospital admissions, requiring fewer heart procedures and having better control of the risk factors that cause coronary artery disease.”
The study involved 469 patients who were admitted to the Foothills Medical Centre after experiencing a heart attack, between January 2007 and July 2009. Half of the participants had traditional cardiac rehabilitation access (weeks to months), while half received early access to the program. Those who had early access to the program had a cardiac rehabilitation consultation scheduled for them within 4-14 days of discharge. The results of the study showed that participants who had early access were twice as likely to finish the program compared to those who had to wait longer.
Dr. Sandeep Aggarwal, co-author of the study and clinical assistant professor in the Departments of Cardiac Science and Medicine, says it’s possible that patients who have to wait for the program are less likely to participate because they may want to move on with their lives after a heart attack.
“When patients get a call two or three months after a heart attack they may think the program won’t be beneficial to them so far away from the event. They may also have to go back to work or they may just get tired of waiting,” says Aggarwal, who is also a member of the Libin Institute.
Gibbs, having experienced the benefits of the program first-hand, says he can’t speak highly enough about the program and says anybody who has the opportunity to participate, should do so.
“Without having participated in the program, I think I would still be wallowing in ignorance on how best to be responsible for my own health,” he says. “Education is a key ingredient in improving our health.”
Did you know???
Most major cities in Canada offer cardiac rehabilitation programs. Calgary’s cardiac rehabilitation program, located at the Talisman Sports Centre, is one of the few programs of its kind in Canada that has a minimal wait for enrollment.