Patient and Family Education and Counseling: A Requisite Component of Cardiac Rehabilitation

Abstract

The goal of patient and family education and counseling is to provide enough information about coronary disease and its management to enable the involved individuals to assume some responsiblity for their subsequent health care. An educational program is ideally instituted during the acute care hospitalization for myocardial infarction or other acute coronary episode and continued in the office of the private physician or in a hospital or community clinic or comparable facility; in the United States, many education and counseling programs are offered by voluntary health agencies. In general, a physician or a committee of physicians assumes responsibility for the content of an educational program, and periodically reviews the information presented and the recommendations for care to assure that they remain timely and appropriate. Both the actual teaching and the development of teaching materials are often best accomplished by various other health professionals - nurses, dietitians, physical or occupational therapists, social workers, etc., all of whom are able to spend more time with the patient than the physician can, particularly during the acute care hospitalization.