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Department Goals
Cardiac Rehabilitation provides progressive exercise and education during medical supervision to individuals with coronary artery disease. The
program enables heart patients to work closely with our professionals to maximize their potential to return to useful, functional lifestyles.
Referrals
Referrals to the Cardiac Rehabilitation program are made by the patient’s physician.
The Program
Each patient has a program customized to meet their specific needs. These needs are addressed in one hour sessions that are scheduled three times each week. The two primary components of each session are an exercise program and comprehensive patient education.
The exercise program consists of four phases:
Phase I: Light exercise, monitoring and education while the patient is still in the hospital.
Phase II: This phase begins after discharge from the hospital. During this phase an individual exercise plan is developed. The plan is
designed to gradually increase the patient's intensity and duration of exercise.
Phase III: This phase increases the intensity and duration of exercise. Educational programs are also broadened to help the patient understand the need for regular exercise.
Phase IV: We work towards independence in exercise. We
emphasize that adult fitness must include exercise for lifelong wellness.
Educational Topics Covered
| Coronary Risk Factors |
Stress Management |
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Dietary Considerations |
Compliance |
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Cholesterol |
Smoking |
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Exercise in health, disease |
Lifestyle modifications |
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Hypertension |
Heart disease process |
Diabetes Exercise Program
Our Cardiac Rehabilitation staff also offers an exercise program for diabetics. Patients are given an individualized exercise prescription and are instructed on benefits of exercise, including precautions and recommendations. We coordinate our work with the CHWC diabetes education program.
Exercise Consultation
Individuals who are overweight, hypertensive, hyperlipidemic or have other risk factors for coronary artery disease can take advantage of an exercise consultation. Our staff will instruct the individual on exercise technique and provide an exercise prescription that matches each persons special needs.
Pulmonary Exercise Rehabilitation
This program is offered to patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
(COPD). The program offers medically supervised exercise and education to help individuals with COPD improve aerobic capacity, increase motivation, decrease sensation of
dyspnea, improve ventilatory muscle function and reduce hospital stays. Education aspects are coordinated with the
Caridiopulmonary care staff to help with lifestyle modifications to promote healthier living.
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