The challenge of cardiac rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation has emerged as an integral part of cardiovascular care and an important and exciting area of rehabilitation. Its future will depend on the maintenance of adequate funding sources and demonstration that quality of life or cost/benefit assessments justify the continuance of such programs. Physical activity will remain as the cornerstone of most programs, but it must be integrated with other risk factor modification programs. The practitioner of cardiac rehabilitation will need to recognize the appropriate application of risk factor modification.