What is cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation?
Cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation is a treatment concept for patients who experience psychological impairments such as stress or fatigue in addition to the primary illness that led to rehabilitation (e.g., coronary artery disease). The approach complements conventional rehabilitation with additional psychological and exercise therapy interventions. Characteristic of cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation is the closed group concept. Eight to twelve patients are treated together in the specific cognitive-behavioral oriented psychological and movement therapy interventions.

What are the benefits of cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation?
Studies in patients with musculoskeletal disorders have shown that individuals participating in cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation exhibit lower levels of depression in the short and medium term, better assessment of pain management strategies, lower pain intensity, and improved general health in the long term when compared to those who undergo conventional medical rehabilitation. An analysis conducted by the University of Lübeck was able to confirm for orthopedic cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation programs, implemented in real-world care, that participants reported better subjective work ability, better physical functioning, better self-management skills, lower pain impairment, and lower anxiety-avoidance beliefs ten months after cognitive-behavioral rehabilitation than comparable individuals who received conventional orthopedic rehabilitation.

Does the approach also help with cardiovascular diseases?
There have been no comparable studies in cardiac rehabilitation to date. With the help of the study, we would like to examine whether the approach also has advantages for patients with cardiovascular diseases.