| Learning Objective #1: Measure the effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation programs and apply the new knowledge to benefit similar populations. | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Understand the barriers in global collaboration research. |
Background
Approximately 650,000 people in the United States have a first heart attack each year. Heart attack survivors are at increased risk for recurrent heart attacks, cardiovascular complications and sudden cardiac death. One of the most important parts of cardiac risk reduction after a cardiac event is cardiac rehabilitation. Even though many studies showed that cardiac rehabilitation programs can substantially improve survival rates, only about one-third of adults with cardiac episodes attended rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to find out the beneficial effects of cardiac rehabilitation in rural Texas. Blood pressure, exercise duration and self-care physical activities are used as indicators to measure the effectiveness of the programs and patient self-care.
Design and procedure
This repeated measure study will be conducted in a cardiac rehabilitation center in rural Texas. The convenience sampling method will be used. Adults, 18 years and older, who are referred to the cardiac rehabilitation center after a cardiac episode will be recruited to volunteer in this study. After the adult consents, the participant will be asked to complete the demographic questionnaire and the self-care functioning indicators: Dukes Activity Status Index (DASI) questionnaire, blood pressure and exercise duration and intensity. Then the participant will attend the cardiac rehabilitation program according to the prescription. The percentage of attendance in the exercise and educational program will be recorded and compared to the self-care functioning indicators at the end of the 12-week program. One month after the completion of the cardiac rehabilitation program, the researcher will call and ask the questions on the self-care functioning indicators. The results will be compared using the SPSS statistical program and presented. Global collaboration experience will be discussed.
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See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)