Portland District Health’s cardiac rehabilitation program takes a team approach to help people return to their normal lives – or to bounce back even better.
Cardiac Rehab Pulmonary Nurse Julie Baker says the program aims to assist patients to move forward with their lives after a cardiac event.
“We work as a team and aim to get them back to where they were previously and, in some cases, even better than what they were,” she said.
The team includes an exercise physiologist, dietitians, occupational therapist, social workers and physiotherapists and they work with other clinicians, including diabetes educators, GPs and specialists.
The rehab programs are personalised to each patient and are open to anyone who has experienced a cardiac event, such as a heart attack, stent procedure, or cardiac surgery including pacemaker insertion.
It is open to people of any age and recent groups have included people aged from their 30s to 80s.
“The only specification is that they have to have had a recent change in their cardiac health, which could be an actual cardiac event or they may have had an elective surgery,” Ms Baker said.
Patients are assessed before joining the program which includes clinical, exercise and education support.
“We have a variety of methods to deliver the program which can vary from 8 to 11 weeks,” Ms Baker said.
The specialist members of the team provide information to give to participants and one-on-one follow-up sessions can be organised if needed.
The P.L.A.C.E, managed by Belgravia Leisure, also provides space for patients to complete the exercise component of their programs.
Cardiac rehabilitation is part of PDH’s Chronic Disease Management Program.
Ms Baker says the program has a good success rate in helping people back to good health. Recent graduate Kaylea Towers says the program helped her to recover after a heart attack. “Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to go forward,” she said.
