Patients are often left without adequate medical care for longer periods of time, after a myocardial infarction, and find themselves in a distressed state, without support and without the right information about their condition. Our research sought to bridge this gap and introduce an early rehabilitation programme that focuses on the psychological distress and the frequent presence of anxiety, stress and depression in this population, as well as physiologically training for their heart and body through heart rate variability trainings. The 8-week programme included 7 post-myocardial infarction patients (5 men and 2 women), who
represented the experimental group. The programme consisted of seven psychoeducational sessions on different psychological and physiological topics, relaxation exercises, and regular practice of deep and slow abdominal breathing at a rate of 6 breaths per minute to increase
heart rate variability. Their condition was reassessed after 8 weeks and compared with a control group that did not participate in the programme. We used the Perceived Stress Scale, a Brief symptoms inventory and a portable ECG device, Savvy. The results showed a better heart rate variability, lower stress and lower anxiety and depression symptomatology in patients who participated in the programme, but the differences were not statistically significant, so we were unable to confirm any of the hypotheses. The programme would need to be carried out on a larger sample, and this research can serve as a good guideline for further improvements and subsequent implementation of the programme in an existing health care system that combines the physiological and the psychological aspect of health.
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