Psychosocial issues for cardiac rehabilitation with older individuals

Psychological management of older people undergoing cardiac rehabilitation should be delivered, in the main, as it is to younger people with the heter ogeneity of patient characteristics taken as standard. General consideratio ns in delivering a service to older people include societal definitions of ageing, the profile of older cardiac patient groups, ageism as practised by both health professionals and patients, psychological issues of particular relevance to ageing and evidence from scientific studies with older indivi duals. These topics are considered in this review. The challenge is to deve lop a system which includes and is responsive to this growing subgroup of p atients who can benefit from cardiac rehabilitation.