As medical treatments for coronary heart disease have become more sophisticated, they have also become more costly. Evidence concerning the effects of medical and rehabilitative therapies on post-myocardial infarction patients' quality of life, including return to work and to normal levels of functioning, has been mixed. At the same time. recent data suggest that psychosocial factors, such as social isolation and depression, are important predictors of morbidity and mortality in coronary heart disease patients. These studies suggest that interventions which provide psychological support to myocardial infarction patients may enhance both the psychosocial and physical recovery of these patients. To the extent that supportive interventions can be shown to impact favorably on survival and health-related quality of life in myocardial infarction patients, the human and financial costs associated with coronary heart disease can be reduced. The initiative originated in the Working Group on Psychosocial Interventions which met in June 1992.