Care for people with known coronary heart disease (CHD) provided through general practice and cardiac rehabilitation programs can reduce the incidence of subsequent cardiovascular events and improve quality of life and survival. This requires the application of evidence-based lifestyle, biomedical and pyschosocial management recommendations.
The World Health Organisation and the Heart Foundation recommends that all patients who have had a heart attack, heart surgery, coronary angioplasty or other heart or blood vessel disease should routinely referred to an appropriate cardiac rehabilitation and prevention program.
Updated CSANZ Guidelines Endorsed By Heart Foundation
The Heart Foundation has endorsed the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand's (CSANZ) updated guidelines for diagnosing and managing familial hypercholesterolaemia, familial long QT syndrome and Marfan syndrome.
To view these guidelines, click on the links under 'Resources' below.
Managing My Heart Health (MMHH) – A Resource For People With Or At High Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease
Managing My Heart Health is an interactive self-management resource for patients with or at high risk of coronary heart disease. It mirrors the content of the newly updated Reducing Risk in Heart Disease 2008 guidelines (see 'Resources' below) and provides patients with lifestyle, medical and psychosocial strategies on how they can reduce their risk of further heart problems.
Key features of this valuable resource include:
• comprehensive evidence-based risk factor information in a concise format;
• Self-management tools including action plans, a Medicines List card and a summary self-monitoring record (MMHH At A Glance) to help patients keep on track, and help facilitate discussion with their health professionals.
This approach simplifies the need to keep individual fact sheets and ensures a patient can keep easier track of key information when they need it.
Order your copies by calling us on 1300 36 27 87 or by email.
Additional copies of MMHH At A Glance self-monitoring card can be downloaded from this page (see 'Resources' below).
Reducing Response Time to Suspected Heart Attack
The Medical Journal of Australia's 3 September 2007 issue published a position statement outlining the Heart Foundation's comprehensive, ongoing plan to reduce patient response time for suspected heart attack (see 'Resources' below).
Resources
Reducing Risk in Heart Disease - Full Guidelines (updated 2008) This version contains updated blood pressure information, consistent with our Guide to management of hypertension 2008.
Download
Reducing Risk in Heart Disease - Summary (updated 2008) This version contains updated blood pressure information, consistent with our Guide to management of hypertension 2008.
Download
MMHH At A Glance - Self-monitoring card (2007)
Recommended Framework in Cardiac Rehabilitation (2004)
Download
Position Statement: Patient delay in responding to symptoms of possible heart attack: can we reduce time to care? (2007) This document is available to download from the Medical Journal of Australia's website (and is copyright of the Medical Journal of Australia) by clicking
here.
Contact Us
Information for patients and other interested parties about Coronary Heart Disease can be accessed by viewing the relevant pages on this website. Alternatively, they can call us on 1300 36 27 87 or contact us via
email.