The Vidant Wellness Center is celebrating its 17th anniversary this week and March is National Cardiac Rehabilitation Month. What a great time to share with the community exactly what cardiac rehabilitation is and how you may benefit from it.

Cardiac rehab is a physician-referred and physician-supervised program that uses a multidisciplinary approach to decrease cardiac risk factors, increase physical strength and endurance, and teach heart patients how to care for their precious pump for years to come. Here are some details:

Qualifying for the program — Medicare will pay for 80 percent of the cost of cardiac rehab for anyone who has had a “cardiac event” within the last 6 months. A cardiac event could be a myocardial infarction (heart attack), coronary artery stent placement, bypass surgery or valve replacement. In 2012, Medicare started paying for some heart failure patients, depending on the severity of their illness.

Purpose of the program — Participants and rehab staff work together to develop a plan that addresses relevant cardiovascular risk factors. These risk factors might include high blood pressure, being overweight, high cholesterol, inactivity, diabetes, smoking or poor stress management. Patients set goals and the rehab team helps to achieve them. A typical goal might be “I would like to develop a regular exercise habit three to five days a week” or “I would like to lose two pounds a week for the next eight weeks” or “I would like to come off some of my blood pressure medicine.”

Since exercise influences most all cardiovascular risk factors, it is the main focus of the program. An exercise physiologist provides daily exercise prescription for each participant based on his heart rate, perceived exertion, functional limitations and goals. Exercise intensity and duration are increased gradually over an eight- to 12-week period of time. Participants learn how hard they should exercise, how often they should exercise and what types of exercise are best for them in light of their health issues.

Why is it important? It can be a little scary to start exercising after a recent cardiac event. Some patients are anxious about “overdoing it” and therefore spend a little too much time on the couch. Others think they are Superman and do too much, too soon, after a cardiac procedure, which is not helpful either. A cardiac rehab program will provide guidance on how to start or resume an exercise program, taking into consideration the cardiac health of each participant. Their heart rhythm and blood pressure will be monitored closely. A team consisting of a nurse, physician and exercise physiologist work together to support and encourage each participant.

Educational components of the program — Learning how to manage your cardiac condition is a critical aspect of the program. Each participant will meet with a registered dietitian to set nutrition goals and a pharmacist about their medications. Participants will explore several methods of managing stress and come to realize the importance of the mind-body connection. We operate with the belief that knowledge is power. The more one knows about their heart and how it works, the better job one can do in taking care of it.

We only have one heart. Our heart health is strongly influenced by the daily choices we make. Studies show that heart patients who participate in cardiac rehab have less of a chance of having another cardiac event in the future. They are also more likely to develop lifelong habits of exercise and sound nutrition. If you think you may be a good candidate for cardiac rehab, speak to your doctor, who can refer you to the program.

Judy Van Dorp, RN, is a cardiac rehab nurse at the Vidant Wellness Center-Washington and can be reached at 252-975-4236.