Cardiac rehabilitation program adopted in Brunei to improve quality of life

About 62 cardiac patients in Brunei were invited to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program Phase Three by Ministry of Health in their effort to prevent patients from having a second heart attack and improve their quality of life through various exercise sessions on Saturday. Of the 62 cardiac patients, 50 patients were categorized as low risk cardiac patients, while the remaining 12 were high risk cardiac patients. This initiative is to expose patients to the various places that are available for them to continue their exercise and not necessary depending on exercise equipment to stay fit. The main aim of the cardiac rehabilitation is to prevent patients from having a second heart attack, prevent readmission, lower medical cost and improve their quality of life. The Cardiac Rehabilitation Program for low risk individuals was established at RIPAS Hospital in January 2004 and the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program for the high risk individuals was then established on 13 October 2010. To date, there were registered 622 low risk patients and 49 high risk patients for the cardiac rehabilitation program in RIPAS Hospital. Of the total number of patients that were registered 60 percent of them has completed the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. The completion of the program depends on their attendance and commitment to the program. In Brunei Darussalam, Cardiac Rehabilitation Program are offered in three phases. Patients are referred by the cardiologists and have been assessed by the cardiologists for fitness to undergo this program. Phase One is where patients are being seen in coronary care unit. Phase two is outpatients appointment to attend supervise exercise and education sessions. Phase three is where patients need to maintain their heart health by practicing the information learned in Phase 2. For primary prevention, Pehin Adanan, minister of health is actively promoting it through Health Promotion Center (HPC) in encouraging lifestyle modification by eating healthy, exercise and stop smoking to reduce the number of Bruneian death cause by Non Communicable Diseases which includes cancer, heart disease, diabetic mellitus, asthma and more. The Cardiac Rehabilitation Team would also like to urge cardiac patients who had completed the Phase Two program to continue their exercise and eat healthy and care for their heart. Maintenance Phase is the most challenging phase amount the three phases, as it is life long program and require strong motivation to practice what was learned in Phase Two. Brunei has one of the best publicly run health care systems in the world. Those who are citizens of the country are entitled to medical care free of charge and immigrants who are employed are entitled to health care at a small cost.