Greetings. Our Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention (JCRP) Editor group and also our JCRP Editorial Board had the opportunity to meet in September while attending the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) Annual Meeting. Our editorial meetings provided the opportunity for our Wolters Kluwer representative, Senior Publisher Andrea Allison-Williams, to provide the 2019 Publisher report; our Managing Editor Kate Maude to provide feedback from the JCRP Editorial Office; discussions with AACVPR Executive Director Megan Cohen and Operations Manager Mollie Corbett; overviewing JCRP operations with the Associate Editors; and providing information and getting feedback from our Editorial Board. The discussions provided valuable information for our Editorial group and included a range of factors that could further improve the Journal. I think we all came away from the meetings with a sense that 2019 has been a good year for JCRP. Personally, I am thankful for the excellent people who are working with JCRP and are dedicated to providing a journal that is focused on improving multidisciplinary clinical practice and expanding research evidence specific to both cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation, as well as prevention.
Next year will bring Volume 40 of JCRP and with it will be a number of initiatives to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Each of the first 3 issues will begin with an Invited Commentary that will provide an overview of the past work that has been in JCRP related to Cardiac Rehabilitation (Issue 1), Pulmonary Rehabilitation (Issue 2), and Prevention (Issue 3). These commentaries will provide excellent perspectives on these 3 key areas of focus for JCRP. We are also discussing other ways to celebrate 40 years of JCRP, including some sessions at next year's AACVPR Annual Meeting that will take place September 30-October 3, 2020 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
One of the highlights you will find in the 6th issue of JCRP Volume 39 are 5 articles that are related to depression and cardiovascular disease.1-5 Depression is recognized as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and has been reported to have a prevalence between 15-30% in patients with coronary heart disease. According to the World Health Organization, more than 300 million people are affected by depression. Interestingly, these JCRP articles originate from author groups in 4 different countries, which demonstrates the global nature of this condition. This last JCRP issue of 2019 provides a number of excellent Original Investigations and Brief Reports related to both Cardiac Rehabilitation and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.
Again, I ask for your assistance in sharing the information from this issue with your colleagues and collaborators, particularly via your social media outlets. I know the authors of these reviews and studies would be most grateful for your assistance in helping disseminate their research. Also, patients may benefit from the findings of these studies which are advancing the evidence-base of both cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation programs.
I hope you find the information provided in this issue to be useful in your work with patients in your rehabilitative programs, your research, or both.
Lenny Kaminsky, PhD, FAACVPR, FACSM, FAHA
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention
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