BACR Guidelines for Cardiac Rehabilitation

In the past few years a lot has been done to improve the cardiac rehabilitation programs in UK and in the entire continent. "BACR Guidelines for Cardiac Rehabilitation" provides vital information for professionals working in cardiac rehabilitation centers. It defines the minimum standards and the core competencies that these professionals should have. It also defines the various services that these centers and professionals should provide to the patients who are eligible for the program. It also provides information regarding the research that has been done in the field of rehabilitation. The book is written by four British authors namely Andrew Coats, H. Stokes, H. McGee and David R. Thompson.

Rehabilitation is a general term used for the process of restoring the skills and abilities of a person by way of some kind of therapy and treatment. The person could have suffered from a disease, undergone a mental trauma, or has any other condition that prevents him or her from being any use to self or to the society.

As we all know, a heart ailment can be life threatening. A severe heart attack can lead to sudden death of the patient. But if the heart attack is mild or medium in potency, the chances of the person's surviving are quite high. There are many kinds of heart surgeries that such patients can undergo. However, neither do they know the various precautions they should undertake while recuperating from their surgery, nor do they have any idea as to what all changes in their lifestyle and diet they should incorporate in order to have a healthy heart.

This is where cardiac rehabilitation gains importance. In this rehabilitation, the patients are educated as to how to live a life that would be friendly to their heart. In cardiac rehabilitation, the patients are taught many kinds of cardiac rehab exercises, educated about the diet they should adapt; and also given other treatments that help these patients to rehabilitate faster. The book is based on different standards that should be used by used by the various professionals working in the field of cardiac rehab.

The book was first published by British Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation in December 1995. It consists of 208 pages. The book was republished in 2000 and 2001. The book covers almost all the sections in the rehabilitation process. It consists of 8 chapters and 6 appendixes in all. To help the readers, the Glossary part is also accommodated in the book along with some useful addresses at the end of the book.

The names and small introduction about the content and writer of the chapters is as follows:

• Historical Background: The chapter is explained by Hugh Bethel and it talks about the old ways of cardiac rehabilitation and their explanations.
• Cardiac Rehabilitation: The chapter written by Helen Stokes, Amanda Farr and Sally Turner covers major points like the program structure and content in the rehab procedure
• Medical Aspects of Cardiac Rehabilitation: The information for this chapter is gathered by the Andrew duo, namely Andrew McLeod and Andrew Coats. As the heading explains, the chapter is about the medical aspects and views involved in the cardiac rehab.
• Exercise Testing and Prescription: The chapter is composed by Jennifer Bell, Adrianne Hardman and Andrew Coats
• Enhancing Exercise Motivation and Adherence in Cardiac Rehabilitation: Diane Allaker explains the power of exercise motivation in cardiac rehabilitation.
• Sixth and seventh topics discuss about the psychological aspects in cardiac rehab and dietary aspects in cardiac rehabilitation respectively.
• The eighth and the last chapter written by Sally Turner and Pat Duff explain the funding issues related to cardiac rehabilitation.
• The Appendixes in the book discuss points like recommended phases of cardiac rehabilitation, Body Mass Index, Cardio protective diet, etc.

The "BACR Guidelines for Cardiac Rehabilitation" is considered a very reliable book and is referred throughout UK by the cardiac rehab practitioners.