Important Personal Values of Veterans Enrolled in Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation.

BACKGROUND

Home-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) heavily relies on patients' personal motivation to engage in behavior change. Patients' core values (e.g., health, family) may serve as motivational factors to strengthen program engagement. This study sought to identify personal values of veterans participating in home-based CR.

METHOD: Veterans enrolled in a home-based CR program at the Providence VA Medical Center completed a self-report questionnaire assessing core values at intake and completion. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests (e.g., Friedman, Wilcoxon sign rank comparisons) were used to assess differences in core value ratings between intake and completion.

RESULTS

Sixty-six patients (72±7 years, 86% white, 97% male) completed the questionnaire. Patients most often rated independence (86%), family (70%), and health (67%) as important values. Value ratings did not change from intake to discharge (ps >.20).

CONCLUSIONS

Future research should evaluate whether incorporating values-based activities in home-based CR can improve patient adherence to treatment and outcomes.