Feasibility of an emotion regulation intervention for patients in cardiac rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation is important to improve physical activity and reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors among people who have experienced a major cardiac event. However, poor emotion regulation can make it difficult to change cardiovascular risk factors. The purpose of this paper was to assess the feasibility of the Regulating Emotions to improve Nutrition Exercise and reduce Stress (RENEwS) intervention, an education program aimed at improving emotion regulation strategies among patients in cardiac rehabilitation. Fourteen cardiac rehabilitation patients (mean age 61 years) enrolled in 5 weekly RENEwS sessions. Qualitative analysis of participants’ comments was used to assess eight elements of feasibility. Fifty-seven percent of participants completed the intervention. Participants thought the intervention was feasible, with strengths in the areas of acceptability, demand, adaptation, integration, and implementation. Other comments regarding practicality, expansion, and perceived efficacy provide guidance for intervention refinement.Kelly L. Wierenga was supported in this work as The Nurses Charitable Trust of Greater Miami Scholar of the American Nurses Foundation and by NINR grants T32NR015433 and P30NR015326. David M. Fresco was supported by NHLBI Grant R01HL119977, NINR Grant P30NR015326, NCCIH Grant R61AT009867, and NICHD Grant R21HD095099. Megan Alder was supported by NINR grant P30NR015326 and T32NR015433. This secondary analysis was from a P30 pilot study in the SMART Center: Brain-Behavior Connections in Self-Management Science directed by Dr. Shirley Moore at CWRU (P30NR015326). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health