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Cardiovascular disease is the single greatest cause of death throughout most of the world. Making healthy lifestyle changes remains the most important part of any successful treatment strategy. This book centres on the experiences of 13 individuals who, after experiencing major heart problems, participated in a cardiac rehabilitation program that helped them to learn healthy lifestyle practices. In this study, the progress of each participant is picked up one year after completing cardiac rehabilitation. About half the participants interviewed maintained healthy lifestyle change while the other half reverted back to their usual lifestyle patterns. Participants´ experiences were explored and analysed based on Mezirow´s Transformative Learning theory. The main difference between those who made healthy changes and those who did not was the nature of the interactions between the individual and both health care professionals and others throughout their illness and recovery experience. The results provide many insights for health care professionals whose main work is to help adults make healthy and lasting lifestyle change.

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Lorraine Montoya BSN, MAE. Studied adult learning within the Canadian health care system. Specializes in the translation of scientific and evidence based knowledge into practical application tools for health care practitioners. Health Promotion Consultant, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Canada

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