title: Women and heart disease: the treatment may end but the suffering continues.
abstract: Though heart disease is the number one health problem among women, men continue to represent the majority of those in cardiac rehabilitation for secondary prevention. Research has shown that conventional rehabilitation programs do not meet the needs of women recovering from cardiac events. Women's primary rehabilitative need may be support, particularly from women with similar experiences. Furthermore, the need for support in living with heart disease may persist beyond the in-hospital phase of recovery. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a community-based communication and psycho-educational support group for women with heart disease. Participatory action research was the methodology selected. Two groups of women (n = 16) met monthly for 5 months to develop the program. Sessions were facilitated jointly by a nurse clinician and a nurse-researcher. Between sessions, participants kept diaries of their experiences. Data consisted of videotapes and transcriptions of the sessions, field notes, and the women's diaries and final evaluation. Initial analysis revealed that the value of the group for the women was threefold: it helped them to cope with their emotional reactions, offered social support, and helped them to manage their health problem. Iterative analysis unveiled a meta-paradigm consistent with the concept of suffering. The apparent overall benefit of a community-based psycho-educational support group for women with heart disease is acknowledgement and sharing of suffering, something that cannot readily occur in women's other life arenas.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Arthur
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000072038:Cardiac Rehabilitation; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000451:nursing; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D012737:Sex Factors; D016387:Women's Health