Cardiac Rehabilitation Communications Toolkit

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Million Hearts® has set a national goal of 70% participation in cardiac rehabilitation by eligible patients—and needs the help of partners to reach it. Improving awareness of the value of cardiac rehabilitation, promoting best practices to increase cardiac rehabilitation participation, and reducing barriers to participation are all critical steps toward meeting our goal.

This communications toolkit will equip your health system or practice with resources and messages to spread awareness about the value of cardiac rehabilitation and solutions for increasing participation.

Join the Conversation!

The Million Hearts® Cardiac Rehabilitation Collaborative (CRC) is a national forum for multi-disciplinary professionals who are working to achieve the goal of 70% cardiac rehabilitation participation in eligible patients. The CRC convenes online on a quarterly basis.

To join, email MillionHeartsCRC@cdc.gov with “request to be added to the CRC” in the subject line.

Key Messages

Promote these key messages through your communications channels:

  • Cardiac rehabilitation saves lives. It has been shown to substantially reduce the risk of death for individuals who have received a qualifying diagnosis or cardiac procedure.
  • Cardiac rehabilitation benefits patients in many ways. People who attend cardiac rehabilitation programs live longer and are less likely to have a heart attack. Cardiac rehabilitation reduces the chances of being rehospitalized, helps patients recover strength, and builds skills in managing medications and activities. Participants in cardiac rehabilitation are less likely to feel depressed.
  • Only a portion of eligible patients participate in cardiac rehabilitation, even after being referred. There are steps that health care teams, referred patients, and the patients’ family members can take to ensure a referral results in enrollment and continued participation.
  • Women, minorities, older people, and people with other medical conditions are less likely to be referred to cardiac rehabilitation than other groups.
  • A strong recommendation by the patient’s physician can greatly increase the likelihood of participation. Health care professionals can improve cardiac rehabilitation participation by reinforcing the physician’s recommendation, identifying and referring eligible patients, implementing automatic referrals in order sets, and following up with referred patients after discharge to ensure enrollment.
  • The Million Hearts®/AACVPR Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package (Second Edition) serves as a menu of options from which quality improvement teams can select specific interventions to improve cardiac rehabilitation utilization. You can get started by bringing together relevant stakeholders to discuss the aspects of cardiac rehabilitation utilization that are most in need of improvement and select interventions that best address those issues.

Educational Materials

Spread the Word

Sample Social Media Messages

Post these messages on your social media pages. You can also share cardiac rehabilitation posts  right from our social channels); just look for the #CRSavesLives hashtag. Follow Million Hearts® on Twitter (@MillionHeartsUS), LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Facebook/LinkedIn

  • Cardiac rehabilitation saves lives, but not enough patients participate in a program. Learn what you can do to increase participation and download Million Hearts® [tag] tools and resources to help you get started. http://bit.ly/2BBUbRp#CRSavesLives
  • Only 3% of qualifying heart failure patients participate in cardiac rehabilitation. Help more heart failure patients benefit from cardiac rehabilitation by applying the Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package in your practice. http://bit.ly/2KDArEb#CRSavesLives
  • Women, minorities, older people, and those with other medical conditions are under-referred to cardiac rehabilitation. Learn what you can do to help all qualifying patients enjoy the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation. http://bit.ly/2BBUbRp #CRSavesLives
  • Cardiac rehabilitation includes team-based supervised exercise training, education, and skills development for heart-healthy living (including dietary counseling and smoking cessation) and counseling on stress and other psychosocial factors. Help your patients benefit from these and other secondary prevention services. http://bit.ly/2BBUbRp #CRSavesLives
  • Help Million Hearts [tag] reach a national goal of 70% participation in cardiac rehabilitation. Optimize cardiac rehabilitation participation with the Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package. http://bit.ly/2KDArEb #CRSavesLives
  • Many patients who would benefit from cardiac rehabilitation are not being enrolled or participating. You can change this and help Million Hearts [tag] save lives. Download the Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package for a listing of process improvements and tools and resources to improve cardiac rehabilitation use. http://bit.ly/2KDArEb #CRSavesLives

Twitter

  • #CardiacRehabilitation saves lives, but not enough patients participate in a program. Learn what you can do to increase participation with these downloadable tools and resources from @MillionHeartsUS. http://bit.ly/2BBUbRp #CRSavesLives
  • Join us in reaching 70% participation in #CardiacRehabilitation by eligible patients across the nation. Optimize cardiac rehabilitation participation with this Change Package, created by @MillionHeartsUS and @AACVPR. http://bit.ly/2KDArEb #CRSavesLives
  • Many patients who would benefit from #CardiacRehabilitation are not being enrolled or participating. Change this trend by using these evidence-based change tools from @MillionHeartsUS. http://bit.ly/2KDArEb #CRSavesLives

Social Media Graphics

Add visuals to your social posts to help them stand out in crowded feeds. Right click to download the graphics directly from this page.

Cardiac rehabilitation benefits to people and health systems.
Cardiac rehabilitation referral. Many people who can benefit are not being referred. We know what works to improve referral rates.
Cardiac rehabilitation benefits to people and health systems.
Only 10 percent of eligible patients with heart failure are referred to cardiac rehabilitation.
Cardiac rehabilitation completion. We know from research how to eliminate barriers to cardiac rehabilitation participation and completion.
Cardiac rehabilitation completion. We know from research how to eliminate barriers to cardiac rehabilitation participation and completion.
I was concerned, particularly early on, that I might not get back to where I was. But that went away within a few weeks of cardiac rehabilitation because I could see how fast I was progressing. I thought, yup, this is it. I am back. This is going to be good. John, heart attack survivor.
Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is much more than exercise. It is a way to reclaim confidence and embrace the new you. Through careful monitoring, I was able to progress and get stronger without fear. Annie, heart attack survivor.
Cardiac rehabilitation saves lives. It is underused. Health care professionals have an opportunity to change that at their institutions. The first step to increased participation in cardiac rehab is a strong recommendation by a patient's physician; however, support from the health care team and family members is also key.
You have a team that really wants to know how you are, what you ate, and what medications you're taking. If they didn't care so much, I would not be here today. Cardiac rehabilitation saved my life. Patricia, living with stable angina, cardiac rehab graduate.
You have a team that really wants to know how you are, what you ate, and what medications you're taking...If they didn't care so much, I would not be here today. Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) saved my life.
Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) saved my life in many ways. The nurses and exercise physiologists gave me the confidence that my heart would heal. Since then, I have earned a doctorate, gotten married, and have a new lease on life.
Patient testimonial from Tina, patient leader with heart failure living with LVAD.

Sample Announcement

Add this announcement to your organization’s newsletter or blog, or send it to an email list to encourage downloads of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package and raise awareness of the role that cardiac rehabilitation plays in saving lives.

Cardiac rehabilitation can save the lives of individuals who have had a cardiac event or procedure, but not enough patients are being enrolled or participating. You have the power to change this trend. Help us and Million Hearts® reach a national goal of 70% participation in cardiac rehabilitation by eligible patients. Inform your friends and family about the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation and download this Cardiac Rehabilitation Change Package for evidence-based ideas and tools to help your patients and clients use these life-saving services. http://bit.ly/2KDArEb

Website Content Syndication

Easily add cardiac rehabilitation resources and tools from Million Hearts® and other experts in the field to your website. Visit the CDC Public Health Media Library for the embed code and syndication instructions.

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