Our Training Programs
We are the leading provider of training for health professionals working in cardiac rehabilitation. Our face-to-face and online programs are developed and delivered by expert, multi-disciplinary facilitators including specialists, health practitioners, academics and researchers.
Our training is designed to keep you up-to-date with research and practical skills. Over 3,000 health professionals have undertaken our training since 1993. We also deliver onsite training, adapting our courses for your specific needs. All our training programs qualify for Continuing Professional Development hours (CPD hours).
Our training programs have been evaluated and found to be effective. As such, they are endorsed by: The Royal College of Nursing, Australian Practice Nurses Association, Australian Cardiovascular Health and Rehabilitation Association, Kidney Health Australia and The Australian Lung Foundation.
Participants are always extremely enthusiastic about the sessions, about what they have learned and how they intend to apply their new knowledge in their work practice. Below are examples of the sorts of things our participants have told us:
“Thank you for organising this program. It has been so beneficial and I will encourage other staff to participate!” - Mia, Registered Nurse
“This training program was great! Great presentations, very informative and interactive I have learned a lot!” - Cameron, Exercise Physiologist
“Thank you for providing a very valuable training program with well-respected presenters. Full of useful information.” - Cheryl, Physiotherapist
If you have any questions, email Emma Llewelyn or telephone her at 03 9326 8544.
Online Courses
Supporting chronic disease self-management
This course comprises 5 modules and is approximately 5 hours of learning. This course covers the basic principles, skills and strategies, including effective communication and behavioural goal setting, motivational interviewing and cognitive strategies, to assist health practitioners to support self-management and behaviour change in people with chronic disease.
Supporting Self-Management in Chronic Heart Failure
This course comprises 2 modules and is approximately 2 hours of learning. The first module focuses on strategies to support the emotional adjustment of people with Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) and how to identify depression in people with CHF. The second module builds on the concepts covered in the course Supporting Chronic Disease Self-Management. The content assists health practitioners to support self-management behaviours in people with CHF by strengthening goal engagement, overcoming blocks and supporting long-term change.
Cardiac Blues
This course has 1 module and approximately 1 hour of learning. In this course you will learn how to talk with patients about common emotional responses after an acute cardiac event. You will learn how to distinguish between patients who are experiencing a normal emotional reaction to their cardiac event, the 'Cardiac Blues', and those who may be at risk of future depression.
Face to Face Courses
Cardiac disease, rehabilitation and secondary prevention
30 CPD hours
This five-day program addresses both theoretical and practical aspects of cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention. It teaches practical skills to assist metropolitan and rural practitioners to implement, conduct and evaluate rehabilitation and prevention programs.
Multidisciplinary management of heart failure
18 CPD Hours
This three-day program provides evidence-based information about multidisciplinary management of heart failure to help practitioners develop individually tailored programs for patients. Both community-based group programs and home programs are addressed. Expert facilitators include a cardiologist, nurse, physiotherapist, dietitian and social worker.
Encouraging physical activity and decreasing sitting in patients with a chronic illness
4 CPD Hours
Physical activity helps to lower physiological risk factors, to reduce premature all-cause and cardiac-related mortality and morbidity, and improve quality of life and psychological wellbeing. This half-day program provides practical, evidence-based techniques to help patients become and stay more active.
Sleep disorders and cardiovascular morbidities
6 CPD hours
Sleep disorders in cardiovascular patients are widely undiagnosed or even dismissed as a ’natural’ part of life. Recent research has shown that they considerably increase the risk of coronary disease, stroke, heart failure, atrial fibrillation, depression and hospital readmission. Untreated sleep disorders substantially impede rehabilitation. We focus on three common sleep disorders: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), insomnia, and snoring.
Supporting patients' emotional adjustment after a cardiac event - cardiac blues, anxiety and depression
4 CPD Hours
Almost all patients go through the 'cardiac blues' after an acute cardiac event. While most adjust to the cardiac event if they receive adequate support for the cardiac blues in hospital and in cardiac rehabilitation settings, one in five patients go on to experience severe depression. This practical workshop draws on the latest research and clinical experience to help practitioners differentiate the cardiac blues from depression, and to know how to support patients as they adjust emotionally to the cardiac event. Participants will leave the course with skills and tools to conduct an ‘emotional adjustment’ session within the context of cardiac rehabilitation.
Cardiac medications update
6 CPD Hours
This one-day program reviews and extends practitioners’ knowledge of cardiac medications. It covers key aspects of common medications used for heart failure and coronary artery disease, including side-effects and interactions. It also covers education techniques for increasing patient adherence and health literacy. The program is interactive and facilitated by experts in the field.