The Irish Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation (IACR) annual conference takes place next week

The Irish Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation (IACR) will hold its annual conference in Palmerstown House, Johnstown, Kildare on Saturday 16th February.

The multidisciplinary health professionals attending the IACR conference will hear from a number of experts on different aspects of heart health including atrial fibrillation, heart failure and exercise and cardiac arrhythmias.

Dr Ross Murphy, Consultant Cardiologist at St James’s Hospital in Dublin will address the conference on ‘Hypertension- New Guidelines and Trends’ and Professor Rita Smith, Assistant Professor at the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems will speak on ‘Women and Knowledge of CV Risk Factors.

Established in 1995, the IACR is a multidisciplinary group under the auspices of the Irish Heart Foundation, which aims to facilitate communication and support between cardiac rehabilitation multidisciplinary professionals who wish to promote a greater awareness and understanding of cardiac rehabilitation throughout the healthcare system.

Cardiac Rehabilitation is a continuous process of care which begins in hospital after a patient has experienced an acute cardiac event, and continues following discharge home. Patients continue making lifestyle changes by completing a supervised exercise and education programme, designed to improve cardiovascular health. This programme, conducted both in hospital and community settings includes education on risk factor management, heart healthy living and exercise counselling and training.

Cardiac rehabilitation is offered to people who have experienced a heart attack, have undergone cardiac surgery and increasingly to those with heart failure, and after stroke. Programmes also exist for peripheral arterial disease.

Cardiac rehabilitation can help reduce the risk of a future cardiovascular event and gives people the ability to greatly improve their quality of life.

Commenting on the 2019 conference, the President of the IACR Noeleen Fallon said, “we are delighted to return to Palmerstown House for our annual conference and hope to see as many members of the association present. There is an excellent line up of speakers and interesting topics. The organisation has consistently increased in both membership and involvement in national projects with the Health Service Executive, the Irish Heart Foundation and the National Institute of Preventative Cardiology. We are looking forward to an interesting day and a productive year ahead.”

The IACR annual conference 2019 takes place on Saturday 16th February from 9am to 4pm in Palmerstown House, Johnstown, Co. Kildare. It is open to all members of the IACR and healthcare professionals interested in cardiac rehabilitation. For more information please see the IACR website.