Indicators of nutritional status and patient needs in cardiac rehabilitation.

Background: The prevalence and incidence of cardiovascular diseases significantly increase with age, and it is well-known that nutritional status affects the prognosis and treatment of these diseases. Therefore, evaluating nutritional status is essential for maintaining/regaining health. It is crucial to identify nutritional risk early, prevent and/or treat protein-energy malnutrition, and promote the modification of inappropriate dietary habits.

[First definition of minimal care model: the role of nurses, physiotherapists, dietitians and psychologists in preventive and rehabilitative cardiology].

Rehabilitative and preventive cardiology (CRP) is configured as intervention prevention to "gain health" through a process of multifactorial care that reduces disability and the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events. It makes use of an interdisciplinary team in which every professional needs to have multiple intervention paths because of the different levels of clinical and functional complexity of cardiac patients who currently have access to the rehabilitation. The document refers to the use of interventions by nurses, physiotherapists, dietitians and psychologists that are part of the rehabilitation team of CRP.

[The role of dietitian in cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention].

Rehabilitation and secondary prevention programs are recognized as an essential part of the overall care of patients with cardiovascular disease. They consist of multidisciplinary strategies aiming at the reduction of modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. There are some evidence of the efficacy of nutritional care in modifying eating habits and behavior in patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation.

[Multidisciplinary team in cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention, from the assessment to the education: an educational project].

The authors explain the training project: "Multidisciplinarity in cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention: from the evaluation to the therapeutic education", the rationale and purpose of a pathway for patients with ischemic heart disease treated in the acute phase with both medical and surgical means, and then placed in a rehabilitation program. The training project was transformed into a learning event for the Region of Sicily and later for the Region of Tuscany that has adopted it, encouraging the spread over the entire region. It highlights the role of the team, which focuses on the patient, converging on it multidisciplinary expertise whose goal is the reintegration of the subjects in their life-context, with appropriate evaluation, treatment and changes in lifestyle.

[Mediterranean diet: not only food].

The proposal of a Mediterranean way of life is much more than advise how to eat. The Mediterranean Diet, a model of Sustainable Diet, is an example of how to combine personal choices, economic, social and cultural rights, protective of human health and the ecosystem. There is in fact fundamental interdependence between dietary requirements, nutritional recommendations, production and consumption of food.

Targeting educational therapy for type 2 diabetes: identification of predictors of therapeutic success.

Patient education is a key component of diabetes care. Limits in resources often prevent the participation of many patients with type 2 diabetes to structured education programs. The identification of predictors of response to group education could help in selecting those patients in whom the intervention is more cost-effective.

[Validation of the Italian version of the questionnaire on nutrition knowledge by Moynihan].

Background And Aims: A series of validation studies was performed on the Moynihan questionnaire to obtain data on nutrition knowledge, translated and adapted to Italian eating habits. Higher scores mean lower knowledge.

Methods: Test-retest reliability was assessed administering the questionnaire at a 15-day interval in 52 inpatients.

[The role of dietitian in cardiac rehabilitation and prevention].

Rehabilitation and secondary prevention programs are recognized as an essential part of the overall care of patients with cardiovascular disease. They consist of multidisciplinary strategies aiming at the reduction of modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Cardiac rehabilitation includes non-pharmacological interventions as: Patients' evaluation.

[Nutritional care in the cardiac rehabilitation program].

There is some evidence of the efficacy of nutritional care in modifying eating habits and behavior in patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation: nutritional care has a relevant role in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The dietitian is the qualified sanitary professional for nutritional care. The aim of this study was to define the role of dietitians within a health care team in programs of cardiac rehabilitation.