EXPLORING SOCIAL SUPPORT FOR WOMEN COPING WITH A CARDIAC REHABILITATION PROGRAMME AFTER ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF QUALITATIVE STUDIES

Objective: Female sex is a major barrier to comple ting a programme of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Women require sig nificant social support to promote compliance and the ability to cope with CR programme attendance. The aim of this systematic review of qualitative stu dies was to explore social support among women coping with CR programme attendance at phase II CRP is 3 months after their cardiac event. Methods: Articles were searched through CINAHL (Cumulative Index and Allied Health Literature), Science Direct and PubMed databases using the following terms: "women", "acute coronary syn drome", "coping", "social support" and "cardiac rehabilitation". Results: A total of 6 articles were selected based on eligibility criteria. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data using line to line coding into descriptive themes, interpreting further to gene rate new insights. The 3 most common themes regarding social support for women attending the CR programme were: family support, female as the primary caregiver in the family, and peer support. For most women who perceived themselves as the primary caregiver in the family there was a nega tive impact on their ability to cope fully with CR programme attendance. On the other hand, encou raging support from family and peers positively improved their coping mechanism for attending the CR programme, leading to improved compliance. Conclusion: Women with ACS consider that sup port from their family plays a vital role as a coping mechanism in their attendance at a CR programme. Healthcare providers should teach the importance of social support among women after discharge to help them cope with CR programme attendance.