What is cardiac rehabilitation?
Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program for patients who have suffered from a heart attack, heart failure or are recovering from heart surgery or an angioplasty. The goal of a cardiac rehabilitation program is to help improve your cardiovascular health. It consists of:
- Exercise training and counseling — learn ways to get your heart pumping.
- Patient education — cardiac rehabilitation will also focus on educating you on what you can do to reduce your risk for heart disease, such as eating healthier or quitting smoking.
- Stress reduction counseling — learn how to manage everyday stress to reduce your risk of heart disease.
What conditions is cardiac rehab indicated for?
Cardiac rehabilitation is appropriate during recovery from a heart-related incident such as:
- Heart attack
- Coronary artery bypass surgery
- Heart valve surgery
- Heart transplant
- Angioplasty with or without stent
- Stable congestive heart failure
- Stable angina
- Cardiomyopathy
If you have a family history of heart disease or are at risk for heart disease, you also could be a candidate for cardiac rehabilitation.
Cardiac rehabilitation equipment
- Treadmills
- Stationary bicycles
- Arm ergometers
- Elliptical
- Free weights
- Nu-Step
- Dynamic resistance station
Mercy Health’s cardiac rehabilitation staff includes registered nurses and exercise physiologists who work in conjunction with your doctor to develop a program that is appropriate for you. All staff members are certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and work together to determine blood pressure, interpret EKG (electrocardiogram) monitoring and to further advance each patient.
Continuous EKG monitoring while exercising is available based on your diagnosis and insurance coverage.