When it comes to cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, patient education plays an integral role in the entire program. The guidance, training, counseling, and information you receive during your cardiac rehab will help you implement a heart-healthy lifestyle to manage your chronic condition while feeling confident in taking care of yourself. The things you learn during the program have the potential to save your life.
What Can You Expect to Learn During Rehab?
During your cardiac rehab program, you’ll be educated on various areas that aim to improve your heart and health in the long-term.
Here are some of the things you can expect –
Medication-Related Guidance
During the course of your program, you’ll be given information about correctly managing your medications, including training to use certain medical devices that may be necessary, such as oxygen therapy or a walker. By the end of the rehab, you will feel more confident about managing your chronic condition with minimal medical supervision.
Exercise Training
When you join a cardiopulmonary rehab, a customized exercise training program will be prepared for you. It will focus on giving you more strength and mobility, allowing you to be more active. Your trainer will start by monitoring your responses during exercise, including blood pressure and heart rate. As the program progresses, you will gain more autonomy while you exercise. By the end, you will be able to exercise regularly and safely without requiring supervision.
Stress Management Training
There’s a strong emphasis on managing stress in most cardiac rehab programs. The secret to keeping your heart healthy is by adopting ways to manage your stress levels, keeping them at a minimum. During the program, you can expect to learn different breathing exercises for COPD, meditation techniques, and other effective ways to manage anxiety and stress.
Lifestyle Education
In a cardiopulmonary rehab program, you learn about leading a healthy lifestyle and how making minor changes to it can positively impact your health. You’ll not only get information about what needs to be changed but how to do it and make it stick.
Dietary Counseling
Your diet plays an integral role in your overall health. Keeping that in mind, most cardiac rehab programs give you access to a professional nutritionist who can chalk out a diet plan for you that can reduce your cholesterol levels, manage your weight, and avoid unhealthy eating habits. When it comes to leading a heart-healthy lifestyle, making good nutritional choices is absolutely critical.
How Can Patient Education Benefit You?
People dealing with heart and lung diseases have found patient information extremely valuable in their cardiopulmonary programs. It has managed to empower people with chronic conditions, reducing the number of emergency room visits.
There are several other benefits of education in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. Let’s take a look at them –
Improved Quality of Life
When patients learn how to exercise regularly, manage stress levels, and eat well, they see a massive difference in the overall quality of their lives.
Increased Confidence
Many patients report that knowing more about their condition, such as how their actions affect the heart, what causes exacerbations, how to manage medication, and what changes to adopt for a healthier life, has a tremendous role in making them more confident about taking care of themselves. It not only makes them feel better but also enjoy life to the fullest.
Reduced Anxiety
When you clearly understand your chronic condition and how to deal with it, including various stress management techniques to manage regular stressors, you are bound to experience less anxiety. According to a study by Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, higher “health literacy” in patients resulted in lower anxiety levels compared to patients with low “health literacy.”
Seek Patient Education After Cardiac Rehab!
Studies show that patient education can play a crucial role in enhancing patient well-being in the long-term. However, it is important to continue applying those principles after the cardiac rehab program is over.
It may not be easy for everybody, especially because we tend to fall back on our old habits when there’s no supervision. Because of this reason, you must consider some of the obstacles that may come your way and plan for them in advance to maintain a healthy lifestyle consistently.
Here are some of the things you can do after completing your program –
● Look for a specialized personal trainer
● Create an action plan for the next phase of your recovery
● Join a support group
Wrapping Up
Patient education is highly critical for patients with chronic lung and heart conditions. It only contributes to both psychological and physical well-being during the program but also helps in creating a better quality of life after the program ends. Access to the correct information is essential and can directly impact your health. So, if you haven’t joined a cardiac rehab program yet, you should immediately ask your healthcare provider for a referral.
