Supporting A Loved One After A Heart Attack

When someone you love has just experienced a heart attack, you may feel a mix of emotions – from relief and gratitude for the immediate care they received to confusion on how best to assist them in their long-term recovery.

As a source of support and encouragement, caregivers can play an essential role in helping heart attack survivors rebound successfully from a sudden cardiac event.

To help your loved one successfully recuperate following a heart attack, focus on these five key goals:

1. Prioritize Follow-up Care

Make yourself available to drive your loved one to follow-up health care appointments as needed. They’ll likely appreciate having an advocate beside them to take in medical information and help serve as a sounding board for future care decisions. Above all, encourage your loved one to attend all their appointments. Expect follow-ups with a cardiologist a week or so after the attack, followed by a checkup a month later, with follow-ups every six months to a year after that.

2. Support Mental Health

Some heart attack survivors may experience bouts of depression or anxiety following their attack – a result of feeling limited physically or dealing with fears of another cardiac event. Be mindful of your loved one’s overall mental well-being. Keep conversations open and allow them time to express their feelings. Urge them to speak with their doctor about their concerns or seek professional counseling if needed.

3. Encourage Appropriate Exercise

“The most important thing to know following a heart attack is that even though there may be some physical limitations, you shouldn't become a couch potato,” said Ghaith Nahlawi, MD,a Franciscan Health cardiologist in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Help motivate your loved one to get moving daily. Invite them on walks or casual bike rides. Offer to join them in a low-intensity game of tennis or golf.

Remind your friend or family member that exercising their heart – like any muscle – is the best way to keep it healthy.

4. Take Advantage Of Cardiac Rehab 

Studies have repeatedly proven that cardiac rehabilitation programs – medically supervised exercise programs designed to support cardiovascular health – can improve the long-term health of heart attack survivors.

Encourage your loved one to take part in the cardiac rehab program offered through their hospital. Most rehab services are fully covered by Medicare for up to 12 weeks.

“We like for patients to start cardiac rehab within 21 days of discharge,” said Timothy S. Maynard, MSS, ACSM/PD, CCRP, manager of the cardiopulmonary rehabilitation program at Franciscan Health, Lafayette East.

Participants in cardiac rehab can expect to attend hour-long, medically approved cardiovascular exercise sessions up to three times a week. During these sessions, their heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation levels will be monitored.

At Franciscan Health, each cardiac rehab participant has an individual treatment plan and works with a case manager who monitors their progress. A new, in-home, virtual cardiac rehab program is being planned in Lafayette and Indianapolis to accommodate patients unable to visit in-hospital cardiac rehab centers due to travel distances or work or family obligations.  

If your loved one has doubts about participating in cardiac rehabilitation, encourage them to research its effectiveness and talk to their doctor about why making time for rehab is important.

“Cardiac rehab is beneficial at getting people back to activities that they are comfortable with, in a way that doesn't strain their body, but prevents them from being too sedentary at the same time,” Dr. Nahlawi said.

5. Support Healthy Lifestyle Changes

Finally, one of the most significant ways to support your loved one’s successful heart attack recovery is to model and reinforce positive lifestyle changes alongside them.

If your loved one is trying to give up smoking and you smoke too, make a pact to give up smoking with them – or at least pledge not to smoke when you’re around them.

Encourage your loved one to adopt a heart-healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables while avoiding high-fat, high-salt, highly processed, or sugary foods. Bond while brainstorming new recipes to try or new, healthy restaurants you can look forward to experiencing together.

According to the CDC, roughly 805,000 Americans experience a heart attack every year – that’s one every 40 seconds.

Thanks to advances in heart care, most patients who experience a heart attack go on to live long, healthy and active lives. By encouraging your loved one to take simple steps to care for their heart, you can help ensure they’re among them.