Global Heart Podcast: Cardiac Rehabilitation – From Roadmap to Implementation

In this episode of the Global Heart Podcast, we mark the launch of the new World Heart Federation Roadmap on Cardiac Rehabilitation and its companion Global Heart paper on implementation. The discussion explores how cardiac rehabilitation can evolve beyond a short-term programme following a cardiovascular event to become an entry point to lifelong cardiovascular health, and how evidence-based rehabilitation can be made more accessible, flexible and relevant across different healthcare settings. 

Prof. Julie Redfern explains how the new Roadmap on Cardiac Rehabilitation broadens the traditional concept of rehabilitation to include people across a wider range of cardiovascular conditions and promotes a more personalised, lifelong approach to care. She discusses the key barriers limiting access to cardiac rehabilitation worldwide, including workforce capacity, funding, inflexible models of care and insufficient awareness and advocacy. 

Prof. Sidney Smith explores how these barriers can be translated into practical solutions, highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary teams, sustainable funding, patient referral and awareness, advocacy, and models of care that extend beyond traditional hospital-based programmes. He shares examples from Malawi and China that demonstrate how rehabilitation can be adapted to local resources, communities and cultures. 

Together, they discuss:

• What cardiac rehabilitation is and why its definition needs to evolve
• How the new WHF Roadmap on Cardiac Rehabilitation promotes lifelong cardiovascular health
• Why rehabilitation should extend beyond people recovering from heart attacks or cardiac procedures
• The importance of comprehensive cardiovascular risk management alongside exercise
• The role of multidisciplinary teams in delivering effective cardiac rehabilitation
• The major barriers to accessing cardiac rehabilitation around the world
• Why more personalised and flexible models of care are needed
• The importance of funding, patient awareness, referral pathways and advocacy
• Practical examples of innovative rehabilitation approaches from Malawi and China
• How the companion Global Heart paper provides a framework for translating the Roadmap into practice
• The role of implementation research in identifying approaches that work across different countries and healthcare systems
• How cardiac rehabilitation can contribute to lifelong cardiovascular health

This episode is particularly relevant for cardiologists, rehabilitation specialists, nurses, allied health professionals, researchers, policymakers, public health professionals and healthcare leaders working to expand access to cardiac rehabilitation, strengthen implementation and improve lifelong cardiovascular health. 

Further reading and resources:

World Heart Federation Roadmap on Cardiac Rehabilitation
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41569-026-01312-9

Implementation of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Roadmap (Global Heart)
https://globalheartjournal.com/articles/10.5334/gh.1563