10 November 2011
Harefield Hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation experts have teamed up with Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity to help patients in their final phase of coronary recovery. The recovery programme, Hounds Help Hearts, is a UK first and encourages heart patients to walk dogs as part of their rehabilitation.
The
cardiac rehabilitation programme at Harefield Hospital has four phases and aims to improve the physical, social and psychological wellbeing of people after a heart attack or similar cardiac event. Among recommendations for an ongoing healthy lifestyle in the final phase of the programme, patients are being introduced to the local Dogs Trust centre in Harefield where they can help staff and themselves by walking some of the 150 dogs.
Lynda Evans, senior nurse / modern matron at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, says: “Walking is one of the best forms of exercise for patients recovering from a cardiac event and what better way to do it than alongside a grateful canine companion. We have been running the ‘Care For Your Heart’ Rehabilitation Programme for more than 20 years and as a leading specialist heart and lung hospital we are always looking for new ways to help patients enjoy the best possible quality of life when they return home. We are delighted to be working with Dogs Trust on this initiative and partnering patients with dogs to help them reach their full potential through interaction and physical exercise.”
Michael Knepper, 64, who joined the cardiac rehabilitation programme at Harefield Hospital this summer after triple heart bypass surgery, said: “I was able to get a more structured approach to my rehab through the Harefield Hospital programme. I found ways to make sure that I would keep doing some sort of exercise even after I had finished visiting the team. Hounds Help Hearts is a great idea. Walking outside is good and walking in the countryside is even better and I like the idea that you can complete a course and use the markers to see how far you have gone.”
Find out more about
Dogs Trust
Read more about Harefield Hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation programme
