Heart Disease- X-Treatments – rehabilitation-BBC.

Rehabilitation is crucial for people who have suffered heart attacks or stroke leaving them without the powers of movement, speech and thought they had previously.
Attendance at rehabilitation programmes run by a hospital or another centre usually start four to six weeks after a heart attack or stroke and last for around six to eight weeks. Programmes can also be followed at home.
The aim is to improve fitness and aid recovery at the same time as improving confidence and quality of life. This is done through exercise, relaxation and information on lifestyles, including diet and risk factors, and treatment.
An exercise programme is worked out by a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist tailored to the abilities of the patient. Aerobic exercises, which help improve blood circulation, are used.
A team approach will often be used, combining doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational and speech therapists and counsellors, among others.
Patients can draw strength from their knowledge and from seeing other patients at the same unit making progress.
Basics
The first stage for many patients may be to be re-taught the basics of washing, feeding and toileting, which are essential if they are to get their lives back as close to normal as possible.
Each individual is encouraged to set their own goals, whether it is a housewife looking to take charge again of running the household, or someone hoping to get back to work in some capacity.
Professor Anne Chamberlain, professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Leeds, said the process can be “very, very hard”.
“It is very frustrating. It requires a huge amount of energy, particularly when you can’t speak and you can’t get your thoughts in order.
“The first thing patients always say is ‘I want to walk’.
“That is definitely a good aim but it goes on a basis of first sitting safely, then moving from the bed to a chair, then standing, then walking.”
And she added: “Some people may feel the energy required to go back to work is so high that they would prefer to put their energy into something else.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/medical_notes/g-i/764049.stm