Increasing attendance at a cardiac rehabilitation programme: an intervention study using the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Now that cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has been shown to be an efficient and effective use of resources, resulting in reduced mortality and morbidity, it is essential that as many people as possible are given the opportunity to benefit from it. But, despite proven benefits, uptake of services can be low. The aim of this research was to develop and implement a psychological intervention to influence patients' beliefs about recovery and cardiac rehabilitation, in order to increase their attendance rates at a CR programme. The intervention was based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and took the form of two letters given to patients post myocardial infarction (n = 87). Using a randomized control trial design, attendance rates for those patients who received the intervention letters were compared with patients in a control group who received nominal letters. Attendance rates for the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P <0.0025). This study shows that an intervention in the form of two letters given to patients can increase the number of people who attend a cardiac rehabilitation programme.