2026 Pocket Guidelines on Cardiac Rehabilitation

Published: August 2026

Chairpersons: Maria Bäck, Matthias Wilhelm and Dominique Hansen

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

• Seeking solutions for the challenges of demographic transition
• Scope and purpose

2 Patients’ perspectives on cardiac rehabilitation

• Patient satisfaction and expectations of cardiac rehabilitation programme components
• Patient-reported outcome measures8 

3 The rationale for cardiac rehabilitation: who benefits, what it achieves, and why it matters

• From exercise-based to comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation
• Effectiveness of cardiac rehabilitation and the emerging role of functioning and health-related quality of life as primary outcomes
  • Relevant health outcomes for cardiac rehabilitation
  • The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health
• Early initiation and safety of cardiac rehabilitation

4 Indications for cardiac rehabilitation

• Acute and chronic coronary syndromes
• Heart failure
• Valvular heart disease
• Adults and transitional-age patients with congenital heart disease
• Atrial fibrillation
• Cardiac implantable electronic devices
• Cardiomyopathies
• Cancer and cardiotoxic therapies
• Frailty and comorbidities related to cardiovascular risk 

5 Quality standards of cardiac rehabilitation

• Infrastructure
• The multidisciplinary team 

6 Core components of cardiac rehabilitation

• Patient assessment
• Self-management, behaviour change, and education
  • Self-management
  • Behaviour change
  • Education
  • Health literacy
• Optimizing cardiovascular pharmacotherapies
• Physical activity and sedentary behaviour counselling
• Exercise training
• Nutrition and body composition management
  • Nutritional counselling
  • Body composition assessment
  • Strategies for managing obesity
  • Strategies for managing low muscle mass conditions
  • Sarcopenic obesity
• Smoking cessation
  • The relevance of smoking cessation for cardiovascular health
• Psychosocial management
• Sexual counselling
• Managing frailty and comorbidities related to cardiovascular risk
• Counselling on environmental cardiovascular risk factors
• Interventions to enhance return to work

7 Telehealth, telemedicine, and mobile health in cardiac rehabilitation

• Telehealth consultation and telemonitoring
• Mobile-health applications and wearable devices
• Clinical decision-support systems
• Implantable devices and sensors

8 Delivering cardiac rehabilitation

• Modes of cardiac rehabilitation delivery
• Selection criteria for cardiac rehabilitation delivery modes 

9 Improving cardiac rehabilitation participation

10 Considering sex, ethnicity, and age in cardiac rehabilitation

11 Patients’ perspectives on long-term management after cardiac rehabilitation