Guidelines for Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention Programs, Fifth Edition With Web Resource, covers the entire scope of practice for cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention (CR/SP) programs. This text was developed by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) and parallels federal guidelines for cardiac rehabilitation programs. It contains information on promoting positive lifestyle behavior patterns, reducing risk factors for disease progression, and lessening the impact of cardiovascular disease on quality of life, morbidity, and mortality.

The text has been updated and restructured, providing the most current models for designing and updating rehabilitation programs for patients and preventing second episodes. In addition to chapter revisions, there is new content on behavior modification, risk factors, and special populations. The chapter covering program administration has been completely rewritten to include new regulations and reimbursement standards as well as additional suggestions for new models for CR/SP. The most recent Core Competencies for Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention Professionals and the Core Components of Cardiac Rehabilitation/Secondary Prevention Programs have also been included in their entirety.

More than 50 leaders in the field of CR/SP, cardiovascular risk reduction, reimbursement, and public policy have contributed the latest tools and information, enabling cardiac rehabilitation professionals to successfully start new programs or update and enhance existing ones. Key features of the fifth edition include the following:

* A new web resource incorporates 24 questionnaires, charts, consent forms, protocols, records, checklists, and logs from the text that can be used when creating or assessing programs.

* Highlighted guidelines in each chapter cover current issues and provide hints and methods for implementing treatment programs and helping patients stay on track.

* Chapter objectives and summaries help readers quickly assess the topics covered and identify the most important points.

There is strong evidence that participation in outpatient cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention programs decreases mortality and recurrent morbidity after a cardiac event. Guidelines for Cardiac Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention Programs, Fifth Edition, offers procedures for providing patients with low-cost, high-quality programming, moving them toward personal responsibility for disease management and secondary prevention over a lifetime. This is the definitive resource for developing inpatient and outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programs.