The spouses of your heart attack patients: ways of helping with their emotional response.

The family physician must be prepared to deal with the emotional responses of the spouses of heart attack patients. The family physician has much useful prior knowledge of the family and can positively affect the patient's rehabilitation by involving the spouse. Marital partners' overprotectiveness or emotional inhibition can be prevented by the family physician's interventions. Spouses should be actively involved in the rehabilitation program from the outset. The physician should listen for the spouses' feelings and explore their perceptions of the illness. They should be involved through followup.