The Shuswap Cardiac Society will soon be opening the doors to its new rehabilitation program – part of the society's efforts to improve the quality of cardiovascular care in the region.
Founded about a year ago by Salmon Arm internal medicine specialist Dr. Laurie Main, the non-profit society's mission is to provide the Shuswap with "evidence-based, high quality, cardiac care," using a team of local professionals who are "passionate about improving the community through increasing access to cardiac health-related services, and improving patient experience by increasing patient-oriented care and reducing physician burnout."
Part of that effort is the rehabilitation program, which will be run out of the society's new space on Alexander Street, by the Salmar Classic Theatre. Program lead Jeramie Auchterlonie will be running the program out of the space that will also be home to Main's practice.
"We will have nine offices, a reception area, a boardroom and also a 2,000 square foot exercise area," said Auchterlonie, noting Main will be helping to cover rent and utilities for the first year as the Shuswap Cardiac Society and the rehab program get on their feet.
The rehabilitation program, explained Auchterlonie, a trained kinesiologist, will offer care tailored to the needs of individual patients who have gone through a cardiac event, as well as preventative care to people at risk of cardiac disease.
Individuals need to be referred to the program (referral forms are available on the society's website) and, at least for the first year, a baseline rate is charged to assist with costs. However, Auchterlonie stressed individuals unable to pay will not be turned away.
"The goal is not to turn anyone away, and not to make money on this, it’s really to help people in need," said Auchterlonie.
Once in the program, participants go through an intake process that leads to them being broken up into groups of four, based on fitness and risk levels. The group then begins the three month program together, gathering twice weekly at the downtown space. While exercise routines are individually tailored, Auchterlonie explained participants are kept in groups of four to build community. He said this approach has been found to help people stay with the program.
The program will also offer regular health talks, both in person with the society's health professionals, as well as virtual health talks available through the Central Okanagan Association for Cardiac Health (COACH), based in Kelowna.
"We have a pharmacist, a cardiologist, myself, a dietitian and also a group counsellor that will be doing in-person one hour workshops every week on a rotating schedule at a different time than the COACH program, so we’re going to be offering lots of health talks for our clients," said Auchterlonie, adding the in-house and COACH talks will be free for anyone to view via the society's website.
Auchterlonie said he developed the Shuswap Cardiac Society's (SCS) cardiac rehabilitation program after visiting similar programs throughout the province.
"I’ve been shadowing them, working with them, seeing what works and what doesn’t when it comes to results but also keeping people enroled in the program and what’s lacking," said Auchterlonie. "Through that hands-on experience I’ve brought shape to this program. I’ve also been reading the latest literature and going through every research paper you can imagine at what’s worked best at other places."
Differences from other programs include the variety of health professionals involved with the SCS, and the array of physical activities the SCS program has to offer.
"We're looking at HIT-style cardiovascular training, high intensity interval training and the benefits of that style of training on people with cardiac disease…," said Auchterlonie. "We're also going to be doing a lot of resistance training, working with free weights, barbells, dumbbells, cable machines… we'll have multiple different sources of cardio equipment, but will also be focusing on strength and hypertrophy training."
Auchterlonie said he'll be installing rubberized matting, donated by Dinoflex, over the Nov. 2-3 weekend, and he anticipates the program being in operation on Nov. 6. On that day, people already referred to the program will be invited to a free, hour-long educational talk with Dr. Main and the society's pharmacist. They'll then receive a tour of the building.
"From there start our referral process if anyone is interested in joining the three-month program," said Auchterlonie.
For more information about the Shuswap Cardiac Society and the rehabilitation program, visit shuswapcardiacsociety.org.
