You can save a life with one conversation!

Heart Week (1-7 May) shines a spotlight on Australia’s heart health. In 2016 the Heart Foundation is talking about how attending cardiac rehabilitation after a heart attack saves lives.

Every year 55,000 Australians have a heart attack, and for one in three of these people, it’s not their first. Simply by recommending cardiac rehabilitation you can help prevent someone having another heart attack. But we know this does not always happen. Heart Foundation research has found that less than 38% of heart attack survivors report they have received a referral to cardiac rehabilitation by hospital staff.

The benefits of cardiac rehabilitation are clear. Patients who participate in a program are 40% less likely to be readmitted to hospital within 12 months and 25% less likely to die from another heart attack.

The economic cost of patients not participating in cardiac rehabilitation is also significant. A heart attack costs the health system around $30,000 – equating to $1 billion each year. In contrast, cardiac rehabilitation costs on average $885 for a person to attend.

Cardiac rehabilitation works, we need it to work for everyone.

Download a free resource package at www.heartfoundation.org.au/HeartWeek.