As a hospitalized heart patient, you were introduced to cardiac rehabilitation when you were given advice about how to begin heart-healthy exercise. Your discharge plans no doubt also included practical advice about do's and don'ts once you returned home.
But only approximately 20% of heart patients say they are ready for what they face upon discharge from the hospital. The real coping challenges start when you return home. Here's where joining a formal cardiac rehabilitation program comes in: Doing so can not only save your life; it'll also bring you peace of mind. I sincerely believe that joining a formal cardiac rehabilitation program is the single, best thing you can do to increase the odds that you will thrive with heart disease.

What Is Cardiac Rehab?
I am referring here to the sort of program that continues after your discharge from the hospital and provides you with an exercise treadmill test, targeted advice about heart-healthy exercise and nutrition, monitored exercise, education about full-life living with heart disease, and support. Cardiac rehabilitation gives you coordinated input from a team of experts, all intent on helping you to thrive:
· A physician who specializes in cardiology
· Nurses or exercise physiologists with specialized expertise in designing exercise programs that promote cardiac conditioning
· A nutritionist who will evaluate your eating patterns and help you to separate fact from fiction about diets and healthy eating
· A mental health professional trained to help you deal with your specific coping challenges.
Many rehab programs also include spouse tracts that allow a loved-one to participate along with the family's heart patient.
As I explain in Thriving With Heart Disease, research has documented the tremendous benefits that come from such programs. These include but are not limited to:
-Improved cardiac functioning
-Lessened rates of re-hospitalization
-A better quality of life
-Lowered rates of depression
-Lowered rates of anger and hostility
-Increased confidence in the ability to live a full life with heart disease.

Why Doesn't Everyone Get This "Gift"
Why so few heart patients are referred to formal cardiac rehab programs remains a mystery to me. It is particularly outrageous that so few women or patients of both genders who are over 70 years of age are referred. This despite the fact that research has clearly demonstrated the tremendous benefit that comes to women and older heart patients when they do participate in cardiac rehab. My advice: be assertive. Let your physician know that walking around the mall on your own, unsupervised and informally, is NOT the same as participating in the "Cadillac" of cardiac care - formal cardiac rehabilitation.

How To Find a Cardiac Rehab Program Near You
The best cardiac rehab programs conform to guidelines published by the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR). The most reliable source of information about certified cardiac rehab programs is AACVPR. To find a rehab program in your area, contact AACVPR at 401 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2200 - Chicago, IL 60611 - (312) 321-5146 - Fax: (312) 527-6635 - Email: aacvpr@sba.com. Office Hours: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Central Time. Or, if you use the internet, simply go to www.aacvpr.org, and click on "Program Directory" in the left-hand margin, then follow the instructions.
Do yourself and your family a favor: Join a cardiac rehabilitation program today!

This article was adapted from information presented more fully in Thriving With Heart Disease, by W. Sotile with R Cantor-Cook. New York: The Free Press, 2003. Copyright W. Sotile, 2003. All rights reserved.

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