title: Women's experiences of how their recovery process is promoted after a first myocardial infarction: Implications for cardiac rehabilitation care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A rapid improvement in the care of myocardial infarction (MI) in the emergency services has been witnessed in recent years. There is, however, a lack of understanding of the factors involved in a successful recovery process, after the initial stages of emergency care among patients, and in particular those who are women. Both preventive and promotive perspectives should be taken into consideration for facilitating the recovery process of women after a MI.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To explore how women's recovery processes are promoted after a first MI.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative content analysis was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The women's recovery process is a multidirectional process with a desire to develop and approach a new perspective on life. The women's possibility to approach new perspectives on life incorporates how they handle the three dimensions: behaviour, that is, women's acting and engaging in various activities; social, that is, how women receive and give support in their social environment; and psychological, that is, their way of thinking, reflecting, and appreciating life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The personal recovery of women is a multidirectional process with a desire to develop and approach a new perspective on life. It is important for cardiac rehabilitation nurses to not only focus on lifestyle changes and social support but also on working actively with the women's inner strength in order to promote the recovery of the women.
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Health Sciences, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden.|School of Health Sciences, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden; inger.wieslander@hh.se.
authors.forename: Inger
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wieslander
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mårtensson
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fridlund
authors.affiliation: School of Social and Health Sciences, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Svedberg
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D001519:Behavior; D000072038:Cardiac Rehabilitation / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D019369:Life; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012944:Social Support; D013850:Thinking
keywords: myocardial infarction; promotion; qualitative content analysis; recovery process; women