Abstract:

Rehabilitation is a functional treatment, based on a detailed functional analysis. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a medically supervised program, aiding the functional recovery of patients with cardiological conditions. The program includes many activities: physical training, patient’s education in a healthy life with reduction of risk factors, stress management, and resocialization. CR-team includes medical doctors (family doctor, cardiologist and cardiac surgeon, specialist in physical and rehabilitation medicine), nurses, physical therapists, dietitians. In the field of rehabilitation the active participation of the principal figure – the patient is very important. Consequently, the education of patients is crucial, but traditionally forgotten during the classical learning.

We prepared a brief education, oriented to different members of the multidisciplinary and multiprofessional cardiorehabilitation team; including patients. During the years 2019 and 2020 we realized long-life learning (LLL) courses on the topic “Cardioprevention and Cardiorehabilitation” – in the Department of Physiotherapy at the Medical University of Sofia. A brief education was realized moreover for the staff and the patients of the cardiorehabilitation department of the National Heart Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria. We prepared in addition an electronic book and a printable version of some of these presentations, distributed to participants of these learning courses.

The e-book comprises bases of CR and CR-programmes for different types of patients with cardiac conditions, after interventional cardiological procedure and after cardiac surgery: coronary artery disease, cardiac insufficiency, heart attacks, after heart surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention (stenting and angioplasty), after cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass graft, valve replacement), after implantation of pacemaker. Different models of CR are described – hospital-based, ambulatory and home-based. Main functional tests for assessment are established. The principal elements of CR-programmes are explicated: adequate basic physical activity, physical training (active aerobic cardio-respiratory exercises; coordination, balance and gait training), hydro- and balneo-therapy, balneophysiotherapy (underwater exercises), ergotherapy (low-intensity everyday activities), magnetic field procedures; medicaments; patient’s education for control of arterial hypertension, low-lipid and low-calories diet, reduction of LDL-cholesterol and obesity, smoking cessation, stress management.

Current presentation contains results of the level of professional competences of the staff (medical doctors and physiotherapists) – before and after the LLL-courses. We evaluated also the level of satisfaction of participants in the LLL-courses and of our patients.

Keywords:

Electronic learning, long-life learning, cardio rehabilitation, rehabilitation team.