The rubric "Quality of Life" first came to the explicit attention of the medical profession a little over thirty years ago. Despite the undoubted fact that each one of us has his or her own Quality of Life, be it good or bad, there is still no general agreement about its definition, or the manner in which it should be evaluated. Although much has been written about quality of life, this work has been largely concerned with population-based studies, especially in health policy and health economics. The importance of "individual" quality of life has been neglected, in part because of a failure to define quality of life itself with sufficient care, in part perhaps because of a belief that it is impossible to develop a meaningful method of measuring individual variables.
The editors of this book believe that the primary focus of quality of life is and must continue to be the individual, who alone can define it and assess its changing personal significance. The challenge of presenting this belief

The aim of the Textbook of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation is to provide practical guidance for all cardiologists and other health personnel engaged in the management of cardiac patients. The book will follow the concept of "seamless care service," i.e. a streamlined combination of preventive and rehabilitative methods in order both to add years to life and life to years. It will consist of eight sections.

Commencing with an introductory section it will focus on guidelines, prevention, risk stratification and the evidence base of cardiac rehabilitation. In the following three sections different models for exercise testing and training, nutritional counselling and smoking cessation will be presented. The behavioral section contains health-related quality of life and psychological issues, patient education, compliance and adherence to the treatment program. In the social section the return to work, the role of relatives, heart foundations etc. will be discussed.

Groups with special needs will be highlighted in the seventh section, which will address children with cardiac disease, elderly, women, heart failure and cardiac transplantation patients, patients with ICD or after valve surgery. The final section comprises evaluation options. quality assurance and organisational matters i.e. program design, staff training, safety, documentation and a health-economic cost review; even national program differences will be debated.

Each section will contain a short summary and tables with practical guidance statements. Furthermore, all sections will be formatted as to follow the natural course of cardiovascular disease, starting off with focus on primary preventivecare and finishing with the demands on rehabilitation of the patient with advanced disease, thus following the "seamless care" concept.