This outpatient program is designed to meet the needs of the patient once they have left the hospital. The program includes an individualized treatment plan specific to your heart problem, including evaluation and education on physical activity, nutrition, stress management and other health-related areas. Active involvement of the patient and family is vital to the success of the program.
Eligible patients to the program include those who have experienced:
- Heart attack
- Angina
- Cardiac surgery such as coronary artery bypass or valve surgery
- Coronary artery angioplasty or stents
- Heart failure
- Heart transplantation
- Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)
- Left ventricular assistive device (LVAD)
Patients may be excluded from participation if certain conditions exist which may create complications or create a risk to the patient's health.
Benefits of Phase 2 Cardiac Rehab
- Improve life expectancy and lessen your chances for another heart attack
- Control heart disease symptoms such as chest pain or shortness of breath
- Reduce hospitalizations by stopping or reversing damage to the blood vessels in your heart
- Lessen the physical and emotional effects of heart disease
- Improve your stamina and strength to get you back to your usual activities including work, hobbies and regular exercise
- Improve your confidence and well-being
Personnel
Phase 2 exercise sessions are supervised by the cardiologist, cardiac rehabilitation nurse and exercise physiologist. They require an evaluation and orientation session to get started.
Exercise sessions
After the initial evaluation and orientation session, patients will come to the center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at a class time that will be pre-arranged with them.
Each client will be assessed for:
- Weight
- Problems/changes since last session
- Medications
- Heart rate (resting, exercise, recovery)
- Blood pressure (resting, exercise, recovery)
- Oxygen saturation levels as indicated
- Blood glucose testing on diabetic patients pre- and post-exercise
A three- to five-minute warm-up session will precede the conditioning phase of the exercise session. The main portion of the exercise session will consist of intermittent exercises, such as rotating through various pieces of exercise equipment. Treadmills, exercise bikes, recumbent steppers and weights are used at the center. The duration and intensity of the exercise are individually prescribed for each client. Cool down will take place after the last exercise modality. Individuals will attend three exercise sessions per week for approximately 12 weeks. Home exercise will be prescribed when appropriate to complement the exercise done at the center.
Education
An individual education plan will be developed for each patient based upon level of interest, diagnosis, risk factors, lifestyle changes needed and patient's readiness to learn. Additional counseling with the cardiac rehab team, use of education materials, bulletin board information, videos and flyers will be provided for a comprehensive educational experience.
Physician report
Correspondence with each patient's physician will take place throughout the program as appropriate. An interim report will be sent with each patient during the course of rehab when routine physician visits are scheduled. A final report will be sent to each patient's physician upon graduation from the program.