Poor use of cardiac rehabilitation among older adults: A self-regulatory model for tailored interventions

BACKGROUND: A greater number of older adults now live with coronary heart disease (CHD). This poses a significant public health problem, because older adults are at high risk for CHD-related mortality and morbidity. Overwhelming data support the benefits of cardiac rehabilitation for secondary prevention, yet only a small portion of eligible older adults receive it. METHODS AND RESULTS: Whereas many studies examined factors that affect the use of cardiac rehabilitation among older adults, few interventions aimed to improve their cardiac rehabilitation participation rates. A substantial body of evidence indicates that an individual's illness perceptions play a pivotal role in health behavior, and may be a promising target for intervention. Drawing from the theoretic and empiric findings of others, a self-regulatory model is proposed that explicates how CHD perceptions of older adults may influence participation in cardiac rehabilitation. CONCLUSION: The model may provide a useful guide for the development of effective interventions tailored to older adults. (Heart Lung (R) 2010;39:504-511.)