Better Health Through Education
References
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=118 - accessed on March 10, 2010.
http://www.abouthf.org - accessed on April 1, 2010
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/heart_failure.aspx - accessed on March 25, 2010
http://www.hrspatients.org/patients/treatments/cardiac_defibrillators/common_questions.asp - accessed on March 10, 2010.
http://www.hfsa.org - accessed on August 11, 2010
http://www.aacvpr.org - accessed on August 23, 2010
Medina, M., Walker, C., Steinke, E., Wright, D.W., Mosack, V., Farhoud, M.H. Sexual concerns and sexual counseling in heart failure. Progress in cardiovascular nursing, December 2009.
Pina, I.L. Cardiac rehabilitation in heart failure: A brief review and recommendations. Curr Cardiol Rep 2010, 12:223-229.
Tabet, J-Y., Meurin, P., Driss, A.B., Weber, H., Renaud, N., Grosdemouge, A., Beauvais, F., Cohen-Solal, A. Benefits of exercise training in chronic heart failure. Archives of Cardiovascular Disease, 2009, 102: 721-730
Cardiac Rehabilitation for Heart Failure Patients
One of the best programs you can
attend to help your heart failure and prevent further cardiovascular disease is a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. In the past, Medicare did not pay for heart failure patients to attend, but recent studies have proven the value of this
program for persons with heart failure. This program is an outpatient program attended 2-3 times per week for supervised exercise, behavioral risk factor reduction, health education, and personal counseling. If you have a left ventricular
ejection fraction of 35% or less and New York Heart Association class II to IV symptoms, and have been treated for heart failure for 6 weeks, then you qualify. Ask your doctor for a referral and get started on this program that is
proven to improve your quality of life, increase your ability to walk and do things you want to do, and decrease the chance of needing to be hospitalized.
McEntee, M., Cuomo, L. and Dennison, C. (2009). Patient-Provider-, and System-Level Barriers to HF Care. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing 24(4): 290-298.
http://www.aarp.org/families/end_life/a2003-12-02-endoflife-finalwishes.html
http://www.medicare.gov/Glossary/search.asp?SelectAlphabet=H&Language=English#Content
Lindenfeld MD, Albert NM, Boehmer JP, et al. Executive summary: HFSA 2010 comprehensive heart failure practice guideline. J Card Fail. 2010;16:475-e539