Cardiac Rehabilitation
What is cardiac rehabilitation?
Cardiac rehabilitation is a physician-supervised program for people who have heart disease. Program participants may or may not have had a heart attack or heart surgery (or other heart procedures). Cardiac rehabilitation can often improve exercise capacity, reduce symptoms and create a sense of well-being for patients. A physician may prescribe cardiac rehabilitation for a patient in certain situations. Click
here to take a virtual tour of our Cardiac Rehabilitation Center.
What conditions may benefit from cardiac rehabilitation?
Conditions or cardiac procedures that may necessitate cardiac rehabilitation may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Congestive heart failure
- Angina pectoris
- Myocardial infarction
- Post-open heart surgery
- Post-heart transplantation
- Balloon angioplasty
- Pacemaker
- Congenital heart disease
- Arrhythmias
- Rheumatic heart disease
Phases of Cardiac Rehabilitation
Inpatient Cardiac Rehab (Phase 1)
Occurs during the hospital stay and includes education, low-level exercise and preparation for discharge.
Outpatient Cardiac Rehab (Phase 2)
Phase 2 rehabilitation ideally begins shortly after hospital discharge. You can expect this phase to last four to twelve weeks. Phase 2 includes extensive, individualized education, supervised and monitored exercise and risk factor / lifestyle counseling. You will meet three times a week for 75 minutes and focus primarily on medically-supervised exercise conditioning and education.
During each session, your blood pressure and EKG are monitored during exercise. Your exercise regimen will include work on a treadmills, exercise bike, arm rower or stepper machine. All equipment settings and exercises are based on your health status and ability to withstand exercise.
Other essential elements of the cardiac rehab program include patient education, nutritional guidance and risk factor modification. Education will help you better understand your heart condition and learn ways to reduce the risk of future problems. Patients also learn how to cope with the stress of adjusting to a new lifestyle and to deal with fears about the future.
Click here to download a brochure on Phase 2 Cardiac Rehab.
Maintenance Cardiac Rehab (Phase 3)
Phase 3 Cardiac Rehab is an option program for patients at risk for heart disease or after completion of Phase 2. This phase offers exercise in a supervised, group setting.
Click here to download a brochure on Phase 3 Cardiac Rehab.
The cardiac rehabilitation team
Cardiac rehabilitation programs can be conducted while a person is a hospital inpatient or on an outpatient basis. Many skilled professionals are part of the cardiac rehabilitation team, including any/all of the following:
- Cardiologist/cardiovascular surgeon
- Physiatrist
- Primary care physician
- Rehabilitation nurse
- Dietitian
- Physical therapist
- Psychologist
- Chaplain
- Exercise Specialist
Meeting your needs
A cardiac rehabilitation program is designed to meet the needs of the individual patient, depending upon the specific heart problem or disease, and should be supervised by a cardiac physician and a team of cardiac professionals.
The goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to help patients reverse their symptoms and maximize cardiac function. Cardiac rehabilitation includes, but is not limited to, the following activities:
- Establishing a progressive exercise program to strengthen your heart muscles.
- Providing educational classes to help adjust to or change the patient's lifestyle and habits, such as smoking cessation and nutrition classes.
- Offering stress management techniques and techniques to reduce anxiety.
- Counseling and educating the patient with regards to his/her specific heart condition/disease and the best ways to treat that specific condition.
- Preparing the patient to return to work and equipping him/her to meet the physical and psychological demands of the job.
For more information, call Trinity Cardiac Rehabilitation at (309) 779-5340 or e-mail Dan Saskowski, manager, at
SaskD@trinityqc.com.
In the Muscatine region contact Trinity Muscatine Cardiac Rehabilitation at (563) 274-9510 or e-mail Connie Cooling, manager, at
ccoolin@trinitymuscatine.com. Click
here for more information on Muscatine Cardiac Rehabilitation.