Heart stories: men and women after a cardiac incident.

In this study we explore the views and beliefs of men and women about cardiovascular disease and the emotions and social relations that are involved. Women and men attending a cardiovascular rehabilitation program participated in two in-depth interviews carried out with each individual six months after a first serious cardiac event. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using a narrative-discursive methodology. Although there were numerous differences between the men and women's stories, an outstanding commonality was that their narrative efforts to negotiate healing and rehabilitation were guided by gendered identities and societal roles.