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Top Awards for N. Ireland HF Rehabilitation Programmes
Awards for N. Ireland Heart Failure Rehabilitation Programmes The Northern Health and Social Care Trust (NHSCT) is delighted to have secured three Queen’s Nursing Institute Awards, from 11 awarded across the UK. Active Hearts, one of the successful projects, has been designed to enhance the existing heart failure service in the Mid-Ulster area. There is growing evidence that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation is safe and beneficial for this group of patients. The benefits include improved exercise capacity and quality of life, and reduced symptoms. The Active Hearts project will involve a number of patients who, if suitable, will be invited to attend a seven week group programme in The Mid-Ulster Hospital, Magherafelt. Each programme includes classes twice a week of structured exercise, education and psychological support. Following a risk assessment, each patient will have an individual programme of exercise devised for them by a qualified physiotherapist. Hilary Clarke, Heart Failure Nurse, Northern Trust said: The programme will offer a range of different types of exercise in a safe and supervised environment to meet the needs of all the patients. The patients will be taught to recognise their limits and their self-confidence and motivation levels should improve. The social aspect of the programme, as well as the education and support that is provided is vital, as patients with heart failure can feel anxious or depressed. After completion of the programme, patients should be able to include safe and effective exercise in their daily routine”. Anne Pearson, Director of Programmes at the QNI said, “We are delighted to be working with this new group of project leaders to deliver some exciting and innovative clinical projects in the community. These projects will help to improve patient care, and will also contribute to nursing practice more widely, and the development of new clinical leaders.This year’s projects represent an incredibly challenging and diverse group, which reflects the range of vital work that community nurses do across the whole spectrum of primary care.” Each of the three projects awarded will benefit from up to £5000 in direct financial support, which pays for necessary equipment, materials, training, and the hire of facilities.
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