Cardiac Rehabilitation Advocacy
Key takeaways
- Australian healthcare professionals often play a critical role in patient participation in cardiac rehabilitation through advocating for and referring patients to local services.
- The Heart Foundation has designed videos to help healthcare professionals advocate the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation to patients to increase participation in these services.
- The collection of data on quality indicators contributes to regular monitoring and reporting of the quality and delivery of cardiac rehabilitation across Australia.
Yet Australian rates of cardiac rehabilitation uptake are low: a recent study of 49,000 patients showed that only 30% of patients were referred to cardiac rehabilitation and of these only 28% attended. Healthcare professionals often play a critical role in patient participation in cardiac rehabilitation through advocating for and referring patients to local services.
Australian healthcare professionals also contribute to the continuous optimization of our healthcare systems by sharing the evidence-base of the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation and promoting good practice in service delivery. This is vital to further develop and explore different models of cardiac rehabilitation that are responsive to the varying needs and demands of Australians recovering from and living with a heart condition.
Cardiac rehabilitation videos
The Heart Foundation has created videos of cardiologists and patients sharing their opinions and experiences of cardiac rehabilitation.
- Overview of cardiac rehabilitation
- Expert opinions of cardiologist Dr Nicholas Cox on cardiac rehabilitation
- Cyril’s lived experience of cardiac rehabilitation
- Debbie’s lived experience of cardiac rehabilitation
Use these resources to advocate for increased patient participation in cardiac rehabilitation, and to increase healthcare professional engagement and awareness of the importance of cardiac rehabilitation and its benefits.
Cardiac rehabilitation quality indicators
The service level data collection of quality indicators contributes to regular monitoring and reporting of the quality and delivery of cardiac rehabilitation across Australia. The 10 quality indicators for cardiac rehabilitation support healthcare providers to:
- identify barriers and enablers to increase referral
- improve delivery processes
- improve patient outcomes and
- inform best practice and alternative models of care
To find out what data your practice should be collecting, see the National Cardiac Rehabilitation Quality Indicators.
References
- Astley CM, Chew DP, Keech W, Nicholls S, Beltrame J, Horsfall M, Tavella R, Tirimacco R, Clark RA. The Impact of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention Programs on 12-Month Clinical Outcomes: A Linked Data Analysis. Heart Lung Circ. 2020 Mar;29(3):475-482. doi: 10.1016/j.hlc.2019.03.015. Epub 2019 Apr 12. PMID: 31072769.
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