Dv. Nelson et al., FAMILY STRESS MANAGEMENT FOLLOWING ACUTE MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION - AN EDUCATIONAL AND SKILLS TRAINING INTERVENTION PROGRAM, Patient education and counseling, 34(2), 1998, pp. 135-145
Although the experience of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a fami
ly affair, relatively little has been available to guide stress and di
stress reduction efforts focusing on all members of the family compare
d to the somewhat larger literature addressing stress management inter
ventions with cardiac patients. This article provides a conceptual bac
kground for a specific behavioral therapy approach to family stress ma
nagement in dealing with the sequelae of AMI for all family members wi
th the goal of reducing morbidity for all family members as they cope
with ongoing survivorship issues. The family intervention program is d
escribed and its pilot implementation discussed. Evaluation of the pil
ot suggests that an individually tailored focus for that subset of fam
ilies at higher risk for elevated, persistent distress may be the most
cost-effective use of such a family intervention program. (C) 1998 El
sevier Science Ireland Ltd.