Finding a way to get more people with heart failure to start cardiac rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation programme in patients following hospitalisation for decompensated chronic heart failure: the development of an intervention to improve patient acceptance of referral (Mrs Hannah Waterhouse)

Heart failure means that the heart is unable to pump enough blood around the body to keep a person fit and well. Symptoms include shortness of breath, tiredness, leg swelling, and difficulty being active. Heart failure is a lifelong condition, but there are treatments available to make people who live with the illness feel better. Medication plays an important role. However, it has also been shown that attending special educational exercise classes designed for people with heart failure – cardiac rehabilitation – can help keep them active, improve how they feel, and keep them out of hospital. Despite these beneficial effects, many people with heart failure do not accept a referral to cardiac rehabilitation. The referral is usually offered at the end of a hospital stay, when people are likely to be feeling particularly weak and tired (frail). Professor Sally Singh, a cardiac rehabilitation specialist at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, will lead a clinical study to find out if feeling frail prevents people from accepting a referral to cardiac rehabilitation. Heart failure patients and hospital staff will also be asked what simple steps could be taken to encourage people to accept the referral. The practicalities of these steps will then be assessed. Increasing the uptake of cardiac rehabilitation could reduce hospital readmissions and improve the health and quality of life of many people living with heart failure in the UK.