What is Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation is a well-established form of treatment suitable for almost all heart conditions, including heart attacks, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and even heart failure.

The overall goal of cardiac rehab is to improve patients’ heart health and well-being to prevent recurrence of a cardiac incident. It is a multidisciplinary programme involving physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, and physicians, assisting patients with their lifelong maintenance of dietary habits, physical activity levels, and risk factor modification such as smoking cessation.

What does Cardiac Rehabilitation Involve

The three components of Cardiac Rehabilitation are:

Supervised Exercise Sessions – A vital part of cardiac rehabilitation that ensures patients’ safety and helps them build confidence and fitness following a cardiac event.
Counselling – Provides emotional support and advice to patients and their families in coping with lifestyle changes, treatment fees, etc., on the road to recovery.
Patient Education – Information on heart disease condition, treatment and risk factor modification empowers patients to care for themselves.

There are four phases of Cardiac Rehabilitation:

Phase	Setting	Nature of Rehabilitation	Duration
1	Hospital (Inpatient)	Introduction to caring for one’s heart Lifestyle modification education	During hospital stay
2	Hospital (Outpatient)	Exercise Rehabilitation Educational Talks Counselling Usually begins two weeks after discharge from hospital.	4 to 8 weeks
3	Community (at SHF Heart Wellness Centre)	Supervised Exercise Rehabilitation Nutrition Counselling	8 to 12 weeks
4	Community (at SHF Heart Wellness Centre)	Independent Exercise Rehabilitation Nutrition Counselling	Lifelong

For a community-based cardiac rehabilitation programme, patients can enrol with the Singapore Heart Foundation’s Heart Wellness Programme.

Benefits of Cardiac Rehabilitation

Reduce recurrence, re-hospitalisation and death

In Singapore, 1 in 3 heart attack patients may experience a recurrent cardiac event. Clinical research has shown that regular participation in cardiac rehabilitation reduces cardiac-related death by over 50%, reduces re-hospitalisations (for all causes) by 25%, improves chronic disease control and well-being.
Reduces the main risk factors of cardiovascular disease

i.e. High blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity, stress, unhealthy diet and smoking
Keeps patients within a safe heart rate range

Supervision by qualified physiotherapists ensures patients do not overstrain their hearts, thereby reducing the risk of cardiac events.
Improves cardiovascular health, overall body strength and quality of life

Tasks that felt strenuous before will feel significantly easier due to improved health and well-being.