The World Heart Federation Roadmap on Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Pathway to Lifelong Cardiovascular Health outlines a vision for cardiovascular rehabilitation as an integral part of lifelong, person-centred cardiovascular care.

It calls for a shift beyond traditional, time-limited rehabilitation programmes towards comprehensive approaches that support people throughout their lifelong journey with cardiovascular disease.

Despite strong evidence that cardiovascular rehabilitation can improve survival and quality of life and reduce hospital readmissions, access to these services remains limited worldwide. The Roadmap calls for a fundamental shift from traditional, time-limited rehabilitation programmes towards comprehensive cardiovascular health programmes that support lifelong health and wellbeing.

Five priorities for action

Developed through extensive global consultation with experts, clinicians, researchers, policymakers and people with lived experience, the Roadmap identifies five priority areas for action:

1. Prioritise lifelong cardiovascular health: Move beyond short-term rehabilitation to approaches that support cardiovascular health throughout the life course.
2. Strengthen patient and clinician engagement: Place people at the centre of care and strengthen meaningful engagement between patients and healthcare professionals.
3. Expand flexible models of care: Develop adaptable approaches that can respond to different needs, circumstances and healthcare settings.
4. Build workforce capacity: Strengthen the workforce needed to deliver high-quality, accessible cardiovascular rehabilitation and lifelong cardiovascular care.
5. Advance advocacy and supportive policy: Create the policies and systems needed to make equitable access to cardiovascular rehabilitation a reality.

From roadmap to action

The Roadmap is accompanied by an implementation paper providing practical strategies to help countries, health systems and cardiovascular health programmes translate these priorities into action. It highlights adaptable approaches for diverse healthcare settings, including innovative models of care, workforce development, quality improvement and policy initiatives designed to improve access and equity across the continuum of cardiovascular care.

A vision for lifelong cardiovascular health

The Roadmap reinforces WHF’s commitment to reducing the global burden of cardiovascular disease by promoting equitable, accessible and sustainable cardiovascular health services. By supporting implementation across diverse settings, it aims to improve lifelong cardiovascular outcomes for millions of people living with, or at risk of, cardiovascular disease worldwide.

Cardiovascular rehabilitation should not be viewed as a short-term intervention, but as part of a lifelong approach to cardiovascular health.