What the heart wants: Research explores preferences for cardiac treatments

Members of the community who are living with a heart condition are invited to participate in a University of Western Sydney study about the role of emotions in cardiac health.

Caroline Joyce, a PhD candidate from the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at UWS, is conducting the study about the willingness to participate in Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) programs.

“CR services aim to improve the physical, psychological and emotional recovery of people who have experienced a heart attack,” says Ms Joyce.

“The rehabilitation programs are designed to maximise quality of life and to reduce the risk of future cardiac events – however, for a number of reasons, people may choose to not participate.”

The purpose of the study is to achieve a greater understanding of people’s views of their heart conditions, and the types of treatments that they consider important for a full recovery.

It is hoped that the study will further medical knowledge and lead to improved Cardiac Rehabilitation programs that take into account people’s feelings and emotions at the time of receiving treatment for heart conditions.

Participants in the study may have recently been diagnosed with a heart condition, or may have experienced a heart attack.

Participation is completely voluntary and will require they complete two questionnaires – one at the beginning of the research and a follow-up questionnaire in six months time. The researcher may also request a one-on-one interview to discuss your experiences.

To register your interest, please contact the researcher directly on: caroline.joyce@uws.edu.au

Participants can also directly access the online questionnaire (opens in a new window).

This study has been approved by South Western Sydney Local Health District Human Research Ethics Committee. UWS approval reference: H9856.