Recipients

Exercise is crucial for lowering the risk of disease in older adults who undergo cardiac rehabilitation. While participants in maintenance rehabilitation may stick with enough exercise to lower their risk for months or even years, they may fail to realize additional benefits that come with increased activity. To see the greatest benefits, participants need to increase their activity beyond what is required for risk reduction, adding exercise to the days of the week outside of supervised rehabilitation. Using two feasibility studies, Dr. Brawley will look at ways of increasing adherence to self-managed exercise for older adults in maintenance cardiac rehabilitation. The first study will use an intervention, consisting of group learning and practicing self-management skills, to help older adults add self-managed exercise to their supervised rehabilitation activities. The second study will use a successful, persuasive message to make them aware of how important, and easy, it is to add more exercise to their weekly schedule – building their confidence to increase activity. The studies have the potential to advance exercise rehabilitation research and contribute to the broader field of chronic disease self-management.

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