Cardiac rehabilitation has historically been delivered
as an action-oriented program with the assumption
that all participants are ready and willing to act
on reducing their risk factors. Applying the action
paradigm to multiple behaviors, as is typical in CR,
can overwhelm participants. The literature suggests
that less than 10% of individuals with 4 health
behavior risks, such as smoking and sedentary lifestyles,
are ready to take action on even 2.50 Giving
advice and prescribing behavior change are likely to
produce resistance either passively through inaction
or actively through argument or rationalization in
the individual. Action is the most demanding stage
of change and taking action on several behaviors at
once may be too demanding for many women.