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'Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Each year, approximately 790,000 adults have a myocardial infarction (heart attack), including 210,000 that are recurrent heart attacks' (Fang et al, 2017). Outpatient rehabilitation helps reduce the likelihood of recurrences and improves the outcome for patients who have had a cardiac episode.
Despite this, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US reports that the current use of cardiac rehabilitation is suboptimal. That is, only around one-third of heart attack survivors rely on cardiac rehabilitation, with factors such as out-of-pocket payments, low awareness, and lack of access to rehabilitation all playing a role in this dilemma. The CDC recommends that out-of-pocket expenses be reduced, referrals standardised, and awareness campaigns launched, especially among underserved populations. Occupational therapists play a key role in the provision of rehabilitation services for such patients. To discover some of the interventions they carry out, read on...