Cardiac Rehabilitation
Cardiac rehabilitation is a 12-week program designed for patients with heart disease. The program helps to improve your health by teaching you how to change those things that can worsen your disease or interfere with your quality of life. Staffed by a group of dedicated professionals, the program includes exercise therapy, nutrition education and counseling, psychosocial education and counseling, and smoking cessation and support.
Exercise Therapy
Stationary bicycles, treadmills, stairclimbers, upper body exercisers, weights and a walking area are available for your use. Your exercise program will include 50 minutes of exercise three times a week overseen by an exercise specialist.
Nutrition Education and Counseling
We will teach you how and why to make changes in your eating habits for improved health, including topics such as portion control, reading labels and overall heart healthy eating. The "family cook" is welcome to attend these sessions with you. A registered dietitian leads these classes and is also available for one-on-one nutrition counseling.
Psychosocial Education and Counseling
After a heart attack or other cardiac event, it is very common for patients to experience a period of depression or anxiety, sometimes called the "cardiac blues." Stress, anxiety and depression are risk factors for heart disease, and during your rehabilitation our licensed professional counselors will teach classes on stress management, emotional aspects of eating and how to maintain thepositive lifestyle changes you will be learning to make. The counselor is also available for individual sessions as needed.
Smoking Cessation
We will work with all smokers to determine your readiness to quit. We will provide education on the effects of smoking, different methods of quitting, and help to provide the support you will need to be successful. We strongly encourage all spouses/significant others to attend these sessions and to plan to quit together.
Education
We will teach you about your heart and how it works, as well as provide you with information about the medications you are taking as you learn about the risk factors affecting you and how you can make changes to improve them. Spouses or other support team members are encouraged to attend the education sessions with you.
Schedule
Sessions are held three times a week at various times. You may choose the schedule that works best for you. Each session includes 50 minutes of exercise with a warm up and cool down time, 10 minutes of stretching and strength training, as well as 15-30 minute classes to cover the topics described above. The rehabilitation program is generally 12 weeks long. We do offer a wellness program for those patients who would like to continue to come to the program after the completion of their initial program. We will provide all patients with a home plan to continue with the lifestyle changes they have made.
Costs
Most insurance companies will reimburse for Cardiac or Pulmonary Rehabilitation programs. With your assistance, we will verify your insurance coverage and file your claims for you.
Find Out More About Cardiac Rehab
If you or someone you know might be interested in cardiac rehab, call us directly at 336-718-5748.
