Crafting patient education information: Focus on cardiac rehabilitation

Background: Social capital has been shown to correlate with increased adherence to exercise recommendations. The principles of social capital were used to re-design a cardiac rehabilitation discharge packet that focused on the importance of exercise adherence for long-term health. In addition, the discharge packet was designed to have a low reading level and utilize principles to improve readability, as suggested by the National Institute on Aging. Methods: Peer-reviewed literature from the past six years was analyzed to determine the relationship between social capital and exercise behaviors. This information was then synthesized and applied to re-design a cardiac rehabilitation discharge packet for patients. In addition, principles of health literacy were used to make this information accessible to a larger population. Results / Outcomes: Principles of social capital were weaved throughout the patient education packet to improve exercise adherence after discharge from cardiac rehabilitation. To improve accessibility to those with a lower reading level, the final packet had a reading level of 6.9, reduced from 9.4, which is aligned with the recommendations from the National Institute on Aging. Conclusion: To improve adherence to exercise recommendations from cardiac rehabilitation, discharge information should be accurate, based on behavior change theories and have a reading level accessible to those with low health literacy.