Heart Failure

Systolic failure, the most common cause of CHF, results from an inability of the heart to pump blood. It is a defect in the ability of the ventricles to contract. The ventricle loses its ability to generate enough pressure to pump blood against the pressure of the lungs (right ventricle) or the aorta (left ventricle).
Diastolic failure is the inability of the ventricles to fill during diastole. The result is venous engorgement of the pulmonary and systemic vascular systems.

There are various precipitating causes of heart failure. This is not an inclusive list but it will give an idea of how the following can lead to heart failure. Understanding these processes will help you answer most questions people may ask you about heart failure.

Heart failure rehabilitation can improve a patient's functional ability, alleviate activity-related symptoms, improve quality of life, restore and maintain physiological, psychological, and social status. At Rehabilitation Systems, we have the combined expertise from our multidisciplinary team to lead the way in Heart Failure Rehabilitation program development and implementation for restorative professionals and their patients.
Key Features
 Disease management training and education.
 Signs and symptoms recognition with appropriate response patterns.
 A continuum of restorative service from inpatient to outpatient to the home setting.
 Individualized treatment plans with online health coaching.
 Webinars on medications, activity, weighing, nutrition, & stress management.
 Lifestyle modification with secondary prevention planning.
Program Outcomes
 Improve cardiac output and myocardial contractility
 Achieve optimal fluid and sodium balance

Rehabilitation Program Development: 

By far, the On-Site Workshop is the most effective method of delivering customized rehabilitation programs for any rehabilitation organization. The settings which experience the greatest outcomes from specialized rehabilitation programs are skilled nursing, assisted living, physical therapy and rehabilitation, and home health care organizations. Specific rehabilitation programs are optimized in the following organizations:

• Cancer Rehabilitation offered by hospitals, outpatient rehabilitation clinics, and community fitness organizations (LAF/YMCA).

J Telemed Telecare 2009;15:297-301 doi:10.1258/jtt.2009.090208 © 2009 Royal Society of Medicine Press http://jtt.rsmjournals.com/

Home-based exercise rehabilitation with telemedicine following cardiac surgery:  Simonetta Scalvini * , Emanuela Zanelli *, Laura Comini *, Margherita Dalla Tomba , Giovanni Troise and Amerigo Giordano * * Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri IRCCS, Lumezzane, Brescia; Fondazione Poliambulanza Istituto Ospedaliero, Brescia, Italy

‘Home is Where the Heart Is’ This was the title of an article published in the September 2000 issue of Advance for Providers of Post-Acute Care. Deborah Brash, vice president, nursing operations for Gentiva Health Services, reported that, "With the support of well-managed home care services, CHF patients often improve their lifestyles and clinical compliance in ways that contribute to more positive outcomes and that often are not possible without such care." Home health care, she contends, "affords a more hands-on approach, often ensuring higher compliance rates and associated improved outcomes." To read more...