Core Components of Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs: 2024 Update

Published: September 24, 2024

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  • Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is indicated in a broad population of patients with cardiovascular disease including those with a myocardial infarction in the last 12 months; those who have undergone coronary artery angioplasty or stenting, coronary artery bypass graft surgery, heart valve repair or replacement, or heart or heart-lung transplantation; and those with stable angina or heart failure.
  • In this document, we update the core components of CR to include: patient assessment, nutritional counseling, weight management and body composition, cardiovascular disease and risk factor management, psychosocial management, aerobic exercise training, strength training, physical activity counseling, and program quality.
  • The adoption of novel models of delivery must not change the fundamental therapeutic foundation in what is delivered. CR is a medically supervised secondary prevention program with a physician medical director, day-to-day medical supervision by a physician or non-physician practitioner, and core components, all of which must be included for a program to be classified as CR.