How The Angina Management Programme Works
What is it like to be enrolled in the Angina Management Programme?
On this page we will give you some results that past participants have reported, a sense of our guiding beliefs, our approach to you as a member, and how we are different from the alternatives.
When you are enrolled with us, you can expect:
To receive a full initial assessment and two hour consultation. This includes intensive one-to-one clinical support so you are more aware of what angina is and where your pain comes from, and learn techniques and tools to help you control your symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Access to four informal weekly sessions at The Surgery @ Wheatbridge in Chesterfield where where you will learn techniques and tools to help you control your symptoms and reduce your fear. This will help you to feel motivated to make positive changes in your life that will improve how you feel.
Access to CHAMPS, exclusive support network of people whose experience is similar to yours. This provides ongoing mutual support and education to help you maintain your gains.
Our Guiding Beliefs
Patients come first
You are at the centre of everything we do. This is symbolised in the “tea ceremony”, where your clinical team serves YOU refreshments at the start of every session.
Full information is required before you can make informed choices
Surgery isn’t always the only or even the best option. We believe that you need all the information and your questions answered before you can make the right choice for YOU.
When you feel like you’re in control, you will do better.
Anxiety can actually worsen symptoms. By understanding more about your condition you can feel less anxious.
You are all individuals
Individuals may experience angina differently. By understanding the facts and how that relates to your own angina provides the opportunity to explain to your clinical team how you would like to look after your angina.
Understanding Angina Takes time.
There is a lot going on with angina and a quick consultation is not enough for us to understand in detail how angina is affecting your whole life. By having enough time with a professional, you are then in a position to take back control.
Medicines can sometimes help, but also hinder
One size does not fit all. Maybe your current medicines suit you well, or you may wish to try and cut down on a few. By learning more about the benefits and risks of the medicines you are prescribed, you will be able to get the balance right for YOU and potentially decrease the overall number of medicines you take.
You can get your life back.
Just because you have angina today, does not mean that you cannot start feeling better and doing progressively more day by day from now on. Research shows that people who take part in the Angina Management Programme have less angina, are able to do more, are less fearful, have improved quality of life, have fewer hospital admissions, have fewer heart attacks and fewer bypasses and stents.
Participants benefit by learning:
- What angina is and what it isn’t
- What the heart does to protect itself in angina
- How the heart is capable of growing new blood vessels when the originals become narrowed
- How the body feels pain from the heart
- How fear and anxiety make symptoms worse
- How finding ways to cope with fear & anxiety that reduces pain or breathlessness
- How to use relaxation to cope with pain
- How simple things like exercise and healthy eating leave the heart better off in the long term
- How bypass surgery and stents are often short term solutions for angina pain and are seldom performed to save lives. These are risky procedures
- How different the experience of Angina can be from person to person.
These sessions are run by a GP or nurse with a specialist interest in angina. They are known as your clinicians or clinical team. Click here to see profiles of the team. The sessions also involve family and carers. Afterwards you will attend for a follow-up and then invited for an annual review for ongoing support and advice. Some of those who have completed the programme have formed a support group which holds regular meetings, sometimes with speakers and social events and they have an on-line forum on this website.
People who have been on the programme report a lot less fear, they are able to do more and have better control of their symptoms.
“My angina episodes have been much less frequent, with no severe episodes, since the end of the course.”
Our Uniqueness
Why are we different to other sorts of clinics?
The Angina Management Programme is based on ground-breaking work at the National Angina Refractory Centre in Liverpool. The whole ethos is one that puts the patient at the centre of care with the clinicians as informers and advisers. You will spend a lot of time with the clinicians.
We give you the facts.
You and your partner will be in a better position to make really informed decisions about your care and to take advantage of all possibilities to improve your own life.
We won’t be using the time to put you through exercise techniques but we will aim to motivate and teach you all about how to manage your lifestyle so that you can take control of your condition.
We also teach you about all the services (many are free) which exist to support you.
Please continue to discover more details about how to get involved in our service here.