Physical training in heart failure patients is highly recommended but severely underutilized due to non-adherence, which requires a multidisciplinary approach to overcome.
This position paper highlights the barriers to exercise adherence in heart failure patients and emphasizes the need for a multidisciplinary approach to improve implementation.
The practical management of heart failure remains a challenge. Not only are heart failure patients expected to adhere to a complicated pharmacological regimen, they are also asked to follow salt and fluid restriction, and to cope with various procedures and devices. Furthermore, physical training, whose benefits have been demonstrated, is highly recommended by the recent guidelines issued by the European Society of Cardiology, but it is still severely underutilized in this particular patient population. This position paper addresses the problem of non-adherence, currently recognized as a main obstacle to a wide implementation of physical training. Since the management of chronic heart failure and, even more, of training programmes is a multidisciplinary effort, the current manuscript intends to reach cardiologists, nurses, physiotherapists, as well as psychologists working in the field.
Conraads et al. (Thu,) conducted a review in Heart failure. Physical training was evaluated. Physical training in heart failure patients is highly recommended but severely underutilized due to non-adherence, which requires a multidisciplinary approach to overcome.