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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2024.1430268
This article is part of the Research Topic Non-Pharmacological Approaches for Cardiovascular Health in Underrepresented Populations View all 3 articles

A multi-site mixed-method evaluation of 'Cardiac College for Women' implementation: perspectives of cardiac rehabilitation patients and providers

Provisionally accepted
Rachael P. Carson Rachael P. Carson 1,2Sherry L. Grace Sherry L. Grace 1,2*Ana Paula Bomtempo Ana Paula Bomtempo 3Andree-Anne Hebert Andree-Anne Hebert 4Marie-Kristelle Ross Marie-Kristelle Ross 4Paul Oh Paul Oh 2Gabriela Ghisi Gabriela Ghisi 1,2,5
  • 1 Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 2 The KITE Research Institute, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
  • 3 Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil
  • 4 Other, Levis, QC, Canada
  • 5 Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    A Cardiac College for Women curriculum was developed to address the dearth of women-focused cardiac rehabilitation (CR) education. This study investigated: (1) patient utilization of the education; (2) acceptability and applicability of the education; as well as (3) patient and CR providers’ experiences implementing it. This was a multi-site, mixed-methods study. After baseline assessments at an academic CR program in two Canadian provinces, the 12 weekly 30-minute structured in-person group education sessions were led by staff in the relevant discipline, with supporting online videos and written materials. Women reported their engagement with the education in weekly diaries, and completed a survey post-program. Semi-structured virtual interviews were held with willing participants and staff delivering the intervention. Transcripts were analyzed concurrently by two researchers independently via NVIVO using text condensation, followed by consensus reconciliation and multi-source validation. Forty patients participated in the women-focused education program, with 28 completing weekly diaries and 36 post-intervention surveys. Participants attended 80% of sessions (67-89%). They spent an average of 30 minutes/week engaging additionally with the online education, with 83% rating the weekly content applicable (73-100%). Overall acceptability was rated 4.3±1.7/5. Twelve patients and 5 staff participated in interviews. Four themes were identified: contextual considerations, staffing and implementation issues, valued aspects, and suggestions for improvement. In conclusion, Cardiac College for Women was established as highly acceptable and applicable to patients, supporting their self-management. The women-specific CR education materials were also established as readily implementable by CR staff.

    Keywords: Cardiac Rehabilitation, Women's Health, Patient Education as Topic, Patient Compliance, Patient Satisfaction, Health Personnel

    Received: 09 May 2024; Accepted: 19 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Carson, Grace, Bomtempo, Hebert, Ross, Oh and Ghisi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sherry L. Grace, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, M3J 1P3, Ontario, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.