Hearts in Motion is a success story in cardiac rehabilitation
By: Liz Dadson
December 18, 2014
After people suffer from a heart attack, go through surgery and return home, they are often cautious about returning to regular activity.
That's where the Hearts in Motion cardiac rehabilitation program can help.
Run by the Kincardine Family Health Team, at the Kincardine hospital, the program encourages patients who have experienced a cardiac event, to get up and get moving.
"It's a great program," says participant Doug Tatum, as he cycles on an exercise bike, under the watchful eye of RN Jenny Halpin of Port Elgin.
"I feel good, and this program gives me a reason to get up and move around. I wasn't doing that right after surgery."
Since the cardiac rehab opened in March, 2013, almost 90 people have gone through the program, says Mandy Van Hardeveld, executive assistant of the Family Health Team.
The objective of the program is to improve access and availability to evidence-based, professionally-led cardiac rehabilitation for Kincardine and Huron-Kinloss, states health team chief executive officer Gerry Glover in a press release. "Residents of Grey-Bruce experience higher-than-average cardiovascular risk factors at both the provincial and national levels; therefore, the likelihood for residents to experience a cardiac event is much higher."
The current rate of Grey-Bruce residents who are hospitalized due to cardiovascular disease, is 14-per-cent higher than the Ontario rate, states a report published by the Grey Bruce Health Unit in May, 2012. Furthermore, Bruce County residents have a 17-per-cent higher age-standardized rate of hospitalization than the residents of Grey County.
Before the arrival of Hearts in Motion last year, patients in Kincardine and Huron-Kinloss were severely limited in cardiac-related services following discharge from hospital. says Van Hardeveld. Often, they had to travel up to two hours to access and participate in community-based cardiac rehab programs.
Referrals to the program are accepted for patients who have experienced a heart attack, coronary artery bypass graft, valave replacement or repair surgery, coronary angioplasty and stent, as well as congestive heart failure.
The program includes an exercise stress test; intake assessment; and exercise training component. In the training component, each patient receives an individualized exercise prescription calculated by the Certified Exercise Physiologist (based on stress test results), and access to standarized, supervised exercise classes led by a Certified Exercise Physiologist.
The exercise classes include: cardiovascular training (treadmill, rower, stepper, recumbent bike), resistance training, warm-up and cool-down, and guided stretching.
Van Hardeveld says that each patient receives one-on-one counselling with an RN to discuss changes in heart health; and one-on-one counselling with a dietitian and an exercise therapist to discuss diet and exercise.
Each exericse class can accommodate a maximum of 12 patients, says RN Beth Beddington. Group sessions run Monday and Wednesday, over a four-month period. Every two months, there is a new intake group.
At each class, there is an RN present, as well as the team's health educator, Pam Rantz.
Once patients complete the four-month program, they undergo a stress test and meet with a kinesiologist to discuss an ongoing exercise program, says Beddington. They can then do that on their own at a local gym.
"The exercise classes give patients an opportunity to try out the various machines," Beddington says.
Van Hardeveld says the program is currently free to patients but the health team is seeking funding to maintain the program.
"It makes a significant difference to the patients," says Beddington. "They experience increased confidence and well-being. When they come home right after surgery, they are afraid to move but they need to get up and get moving in order to get on the road to recovery."
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