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By Karen Hambridge, Evening Telegraph
Having contact with someone with similar experiences to share thoughts and problems is a big help.
At least that was the idea behind the Coventry Healthy Hearts Group. And there has to be some benefit behind the concept because the group is still going strong almost five years on.
Pat Marson, cardiac rehabilitation nurse manager at Walsgrave Hospital, was one of the leading lights in developing the group.
Together with cardiologist Dr Raj Mattu, currently suspended from the hospital, she arranged an open meeting to see if there was support among patients for a self-help society.
Patients would receive information, advice and support after their surgery from the hospital team including tips on diet, smoking and general lifestyle, but once they got home the link was usually severed.
Pat said: “The idea was to add an extra dimension to the service the hospital already provides.
“Patients have a unique perspective so getting people who had been through similar experiences to help each other was ideal.
“You can have as much contact with health professionals as you like but the support you get from someone who has been in the same situation as you is very different.
“I and my colleagues can advise and assist but we haven’t had heart surgery or a heart attack.”
Pat and the other cardiac rehabilitation nurses, Kate Homer and Mary Morton try and ensure at least two of them go to every meeting.
“They are such a nice crowd that we enjoy going. It is good to maintain that link and we can answer any queries people might have or offer information.
“It is also useful for us because we can get feedback from patients about services.”
While the nurses are there to set minds at rest if need be the bulk of the meetings consist of a speaker talking about a relevant or interesting subject which can be anything from resuscitation to the joys of flying.
There are regular talks by health professionals such as GPs, surgeons or heart experts which prove very popular, and when the mood strikes, social excursions to places of interest or even the theatre.
Emlyn Price, 72, from Merynton Avenue, Cannon Park, Coventry has only recently stepped down as chairman of the group after being involved right from the very start.
“When the open meeting was held I think I had the most to say,” he remembers. “A number of us formed a steering committee and it just went from there.
“I think all the patients were behind the idea. We wanted to talk to each other about our experiences and offer advice and say how we found things.
“We decided at the very beginning we wouldn’t be a fundraising group but a support group to help people cope after having a heart attack.
“When you come home from hospital after a heart attack or surgery it can be very isolating, particularly if you are on your own.
“You are frightened and looking around for someone who knows what you are going through.
“You are often not sure of your own limits and may be wondering if you will get back to normal. “So if you can see and talk to other people who have been there and come out the other side it gives you confidence.”
He said some people would drop in to meetings for a short time while they were getting back on their feet then feel they didn’t need extra support.
Others continue to attend meetings after making firm friends.
“There is the club aspect to the group as well as the support and for some it is a release from the four walls of home. I know a couple of people who attend and say it is the only time they get out and they really look forward to it.”
undefined For more information on
Coventry Healthy Hearts Group, phone 024 7641 0196 or the cardiac
rehabilitation nurses on 024 7660 2020 ext 7650.
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Meetings are held on the third or fourth Monday of each month alternating
between afternoons and evenings at 3.30pm or 7.45pm at the postgraduate
centre, Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital.
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