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Essay / Cardiac Rehabilitation Case Study - 955
The goal of comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation is to help patients with heart disease regain their physical and mental health by providing an individualized exercise program, a education and advice. The safety and benefits of exercise for patients with heart disease are well documented. The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and the American Heart Association (AHA) recommend regular exercise and recognize the value of cardiac rehabilitation for patients with stable HF (Yancy et al., 2013) . Exercise improves cardiac muscle perfusion, dilates coronary vessels and stimulates the development of collateral circulation; it also strengthens skeletal muscles and increases cerebral blood flow (Anderson and Taylor, 2014; Garcia et al., 2013). Additional training can individualize and reinforce the information obtained at discharge, and counseling can provide the psychological support needed as many heart failure patients experience depression. This holistic approach is part of one of the themes of Healthy People 2020: “Health-related quality of life and well-being” of each individual, which aims to achieve well-being in all areas of life: physical, mental, social. and emotional (Healthy people 2020,