Today’s cardiac rehabilitation programmes are multiphase and interdisciplinary. The aim of the study was to compare different cardiac rehabilitation approaches available to patients with ischaemic heart disease and their next-of-kin during a 5-year period in five counties in Western Sweden. Questionnaires were answered on two occasions, in 1993 and 1998, dealing with the cardiac rehabilitation organization, the target groups invited, rehabilitation efforts, and the health-care professionals involved in the cardiac rehabilitation. The results show that patients with myocardial infarction and their next-of-kin were offered a well-functioning cardiac rehabilitation, both in 1993 and in 1998, at the university, county and district county hospitals. For patients who had undergone bypass surgery and their next-of-kin, cardiac rehabilitation was only available to a lesser extent. Patients with angina pectoris and their next-of-kin had the least possibility of receiving cardiac rehabilitation during the 5-year period. No cardiac rehabilitation programmes were specially designed for women, and an age limit existed in some cases. The most developed cardiac rehabilitation effort was the stress management education. The health-care professionals most frequently included in the cardiac rehabilitation teams at the university and district hospitals were dieticians, cardiologists, physiotherapists and nurses, both in 1993 and in 1998. The corresponding health-care professionals at the county hospitals were cardiologists, social workers, clergymen, physiotherapists and nurses. A research implication can be to identify who the next-of-kin are, what their experiences are of participating in a cardiac rehabilitation programme and how important they are to these patients.