From Professional Training to Patient Empowerment: Lessons from a Francophone Partnership in Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation

Background International cardiac rehabilitation partnerships develop professional expertise, but their contribution to patient understanding and agency requires explicit evaluation. Objective To examine this transition through the experience of the Association Francophone de Cardiologie Préventive (AFCP) and propose an evaluation-oriented conceptual framework. Approach This narrative review integrates published literature with the authors’ educational and clinical experience. A targeted, non-systematic literature search informed the conceptual interpretation and revision of an author-developed framework. The AFCP Capacity-to-Empowerment Continuum comprises professional education, communication capability, patient education, patient understanding, shared decision-making, self-management and cardiovascular outcomes. Its components interact rather than form a mandatory sequence. Empowerment denotes patients’ agency and meaningful control over decisions and actions, supported by accessible care. Patient partnership, health literacy, cultural and linguistic adaptation, and equity operate throughout. A 2024 cross-sectional survey reported 74 respondents from 17 countries and 27 operational rehabilitation centres in 10 countries; these findings document reported capacity and reach. Six experience-based scenarios illustrate educational applications. A proposed minimum dataset maps the seven components to four evaluation levels: professional outcomes, educational delivery, patient capability and health outcomes. Conclusions The framework makes the educational functions of capacity building explicit without claiming a validated causal pathway. Prospective co-design, feasibility testing and comparative evaluation are needed to determine whether professional development improves patient capability and equitable cardiovascular care.