Cardiac rehabilitation (rehab) is an important part of a patient’s recovery after a cardiac event. It has many long term benefits as well as helping the patient get back to as full a life as possible.
Cardiac rehab is a programme of information and education, exercise and relaxation. It aims to have a positive impact on wellbeing and quality of life to enable patients to build heart healthy habits.
Who is cardiac rehab for?
Cardiac rehab is for anyone that has had a heart problem. This includes a heart attack, heart surgery, heart arrhythmia or heart failure.
The cardiac rehab service at the Freeman Hospital welcomes all ages, all abilities, men and woman, ethnicities and people with mild, moderate and severe heart problems. And it is completely free!
About us
We are a team of three cardiac rehab specialist nurses working alongside physiotherapists that are fun, friendly, welcoming and very approachable.
Our aim is to help and support each individual with their recovery. To allow them to exercise safely and maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle.
When is it on
Our cardiac rehab groups take place twice a week and the programme lasts 8 weeks.
However this can be adjusted if sessions are missed or if patients feel they could benefit longer – the patient and their heart is what matters to us!
Patients are welcome to come along and observe a class, talk to staff and current members, if they feel apprehensive. We know for some it may be the first time they have exercised within a programme.
Monday evening 6:00 – 8:00pm
Thursday evening 5:30 – 7:30pm
Where and what to expect
The cardiac rehab sessions are held within the Physiotherapy department at Freeman Hospital.
Doing exercise can be daunting for some, but we ensure that patients are supervised with everything tailored to them and their needs.
Likewise, if patients have previously enjoyed exercising and/or attended at gym they will be able to exercise at a pace that feels right for them.
Everything is led and supervised by our team. But it is important to remember that different people recover at very different speeds. Recovery time will depend on age, heart condition and the treatment they had.
At each class we begin with a gentle warm up before the more active exercises begin – which are individually tailored to the patient and their medical history. After we have been active we perform cool down exercises and stretches.
Afterwards we carry out a brief relaxation session. The relaxation techniques are a great aid to manage stress and to use at home.
After we are all nice and relaxed we have refreshments before we begin the weekly educational talk.
Cardiac rehab education
At our Monday class we have educational topics with a different topic discussed each week including:
- What is CHD?
- Diet and healthy eating
- CPR
- Managing stress
- Exercises
- Pharmacy – medication and tablets
- Risk factors
Learning about these topics helps patients make lifestyle changes to improve their quality of life, expand their outlook and emotional stability, and increase their knowledge of the disease and how to manage it.
The education sessions are a perfect opportunity for patients to ask questions or raise any concerns they may have – we are always happy to help!
Cardiac rehab classes allow patients to meet others that have had similar experiences and gives opportunity to help and support each other.
However, something that we pride ourselves on is our emotional support which enables members to relieve stress and improve their confidence and mental health.
We value our patients more than anything and hope that all that attend enjoy our fun friendly group, however they have any questions they can contact the Cardiac Rehab Team on 0191 2231399.
Exercising at home
The British Heart foundation have produced some wonderful exercise videos which are designed to be used in the comfort of your own home.
You should only use them if you have received a Cardiac Rehab assessment at Phase II and/or started or completed a Cardiac Rehab programme.
You can access them online:
British Heart Foundation – Cardiac Rehabilitation Exercise Videos
Contact us
Cardiac Rehab Team
Tel: 0191 2231399
