Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program to help heart patients recover quickly and improve their overall physical, mental and social functioning. The goal is to stabilize, slow or even reverse the progression of cardiovascular disease, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease, another cardiac event or death.

When supervised by a physician, cardiac rehabilitation is helpful to patients with congestive heart failure, angina pectoris (chest pain due to clogged heart arteries), recent heart attack, coronary artery bypass graft surgery or PTCA (balloon angioplasty) or who've had a pacemaker implanted, are heart transplant candidates or recipients, or have stable chronic heart failure, peripheral arterial disease with claudication, or other forms of cardiovascular disease. It also applies to patients with congenital cardiovascular disease, who may or may not have had surgery. An exercise program is normally included, but rehabilitation usually is tailored to each patient's needs. Exercise may be very structured, including ECG monitoring, or less structured, with infrequent monitoring. It depends upon the patient's specific heart problem and other health problems.

Combining all aspects of cardiovascular rehabilitation in appropriate patients improves functional capacity and quality of life, reduces risk factors and may create a sense of well-being and optimism about the future.