Heart failure patients' attitudes, beliefs, expectations and experiences of self-management strategies: a qualitative synthesis

Illness perceptions of people living with chronic heart failure and limited community disease management

AIM

To explore the cognitive representations and emotional responses to living with chronic heart failure of people receiving limited community disease management.

BACKGROUND

Individuals living with heart failure face self-care and emotional challenges due to the overwhelming nature of adapting to lifestyle changes, particularly in subtropical areas.

DESIGN

Qualitative descriptive. We applied Leventhal's Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation as the framework for interviews and analyses.

METHODS

Twenty patients with chronic heart failure were interviewed during a hospital admission for exacerbation of their condition in a tertiary hospital in Thailand.

RESULTS

Analysis of the components of Leventhal's model of cognitive representations of illness revealed two themes relating to Illness Identity: (1) lack of knowledge of the diagnosis and how to recognise symptoms of the disease, and (2) recognition of symptoms of an exacerbation of CHF was based on past experience rather than education. These resulted in delays responding to cardiac instability and confusion about the intent of treatment. Participants recognised the chronicity of their disease but experienced it as an unrelenting cycle of relative stability and hospitalisations. Perceived Controllability was low. Two themes were: (1) Low perceived trust in the efficacy of medical treatment and lifestyle changes, and (2) Low perceived trust in their ability to comply with recommended lifestyle changes. The Consequences were significant emotional distress and high burden of disease. The two themes of emotional responses were (1) Frustration and hopelessness with the uncertainty and unpredictability of the disease, and (2) Sense of loss of independence, functional capacity and participation in life's activities.

CONCLUSION

Chronically ill patients need support to understand their illness and make better treatment and lifestyle decisions. Improving patients' self-efficacy to manage treatment and symptom fluctuations has the potential to improve their mental well-being and minimise the impact of their condition on suffering and participation in employment and community.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE

Leventhal's Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation can be used to examine cognitive and emotional elements of illness perceptions, which link to individuals' ability to make informed decisions about disease management and influence health behaviours. Understanding illness perceptions underpins strategies for enhancing and sustaining self-management behaviours.

IMPACT

The study findings accentuate the need to establish long-term condition support programs in low-middle income countries where the burden of heart failure is increasing exponentially.

REPORTING METHOD

The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ) guideline was used to explicitly and comprehensively report our qualitative research.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

Patients contributed to the conduct of the study by participating in the data collection via face-to-face interviews.

Heart failure self-management: a scoping review of interventions implemented by allied health professionals

BACKGROUND

Heart failure (HF) is typically managed using both medical and patient self-management interventions. Individuals with HF often have frequent readmissions to hospital for medical management. Effective self-management can help to reduce the exacerbation of HF symptoms and the frequency of readmissions.

METHODS

A scoping review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines was conducted to identify literature on the interventions used by allied health professionals to promote HF self-management. A search strategy was implemented, and articles were reviewed by two independent reviewers.

RESULTS

Twenty articles met the inclusion criteria. Articles included interventions from physical therapy, nutrition, social work, and occupational therapy, as well as other health professions in team-based programs. The most common interventions were verbal education, textual information, monitoring resources, and skills practice. Interventions addressed diet/fluid control, exercise and activity, symptom monitoring, medication management, cardiovascular disease knowledge, and mental health. Many interventions were theory informed.

CONCLUSION

There is nascent evidence that interventions promoting HF self-management positively impact health and quality of life outcomes. HF self-management is multi-faceted and requires interprofessional collaboration. Further work is warranted exploring the impact of theory-informed interventions, and the effectiveness of interventions on self-management competence and desired health outcomes.

The symptom perception processes of monitoring, awareness, and evaluation in patients with heart failure: a qualitative descriptive study

AIMS

Patients with heart failure (HF) experience various signs and symptoms and have difficulties in perceiving them. Integrating insights from patients who have engaged in the process of symptom perception is crucial for enhancing our understanding of the theoretical concept of symptom perception. This study aimed to describe how patients with HF perceive symptoms through the processes of monitoring, awareness, and evaluation and what influences the process.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Using a qualitative descriptive design, we conducted in-person semi-structured interviews with a purposeful sample of 40 adults experiencing an unplanned hospitalization for a HF symptom exacerbation. We elicited how patients monitor, become aware of, and evaluate symptoms prior to hospitalization. Data were analysed using directed qualitative content analysis. One overarching theme and three major themes emerged. Patients demonstrated Body listening, which involved active and individualized symptom monitoring tactics to observe bodily changes outside one's usual range. Trajectory of bodily change involved the patterns or characteristics of bodily changes that became apparent to patients. Three subthemes-sudden and alarming change, gradual change, and fluctuating change emerged. Patients evaluated symptoms through an Exclusionary process, sequentially attributing symptoms to a cause through a cognitive process of excluding possible causes until the most plausible cause remained. Facilitators and barriers to symptom monitoring, awareness, and evaluation were identified.

CONCLUSION

This study elaborates the comprehensive symptom perception process used by adults with HF. Tailored nursing interventions should be developed based on the factors identified in each phase of the process to improve symptom perception in HF.

Self-care challenges of patients with heart failure from the perspectives of patients and caregivers: A qualitative study

OBJECTIVE

self-care is critically important for the long-term management of heart failure (HF) patients, with caregivers playing an important role in promoting self-care. However, adherence to self-care is typically low among HF patients worldwide.

METHODS

In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with individuals diagnosed with HF. To structure the interview guide and underpin the analysis, two established behavioral science frameworks, the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) and the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), were used in this study.

RESULTS

A total of 32 participants were included (n = 16 patients, n = 16 caregivers), with themes involving: barriers included: "Self-care with Limited Capability," "Insufficient External Support," "Lack of Motivation for Self-Care." Facilitators included: "Striving to Adapt to Disease Demands," "Adequate External Support," "Positive Health Behaviors and Experiences."

CONCLUSIONS

Providing positive support to heart failure patients and their caregivers, along with cultivating intrinsic motivation for behavioral change, can enhance self-care ability.

Mediation by Fatalism of the Association Between Symptom Burden and Self-care Management in Patients With Heart Failure

BACKGROUND

Clinicians and researchers often assume that symptom burden is associated with self-care management (SCM) in patients with heart failure (HF). However, that association is often not borne out in simple regression analyses and may be because another variable mediates the association. Fatalism is an appropriate candidate for mediation and is the belief that circumstances are predetermined without opportunity for control by individuals.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to determine whether fatalism mediated the relationship of symptom burden with SCM among adults with HF.

METHODS

We conducted a secondary analysis (N = 95) from a clinical trial. We used Self-care of HF Index to measure SCM, the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-HF for symptom burden, and the Cardiovascular Disease Fatalism Instrument to measure fatalism. We used the PROCESS macro to evaluate mediation.

RESULTS

Symptom burden was not directly associated with SCM (effect coefficient [ C '] = 0.0805; 95% confidence interval, -0.048 to 0.209; P = .217). There was, however, an indirect pathway between symptom burden and SCM through fatalism ( ab = -0.040; 95% confidence interval, -0.097 to -0.002). Those with higher symptom burden were more fatalistic ( a = 0.004, P = .015), and greater fatalism was associated with worse SCM ( b = -9.132, P = .007).

CONCLUSION

Symptom burden, not directly associated with SCM, is associated through the mediator of fatalism. Interventions to improve SCM should include strategies to mitigate fatalistic views. Self-care management interventions should focus on promoting internal locus of control or increasing perceptions of perceived control to decrease fatalism and improve engagement in self-care.

Self-management theories, models and frameworks in patients with chronic heart failure: A scoping review

AIM

The aim of this study was to synthesize the self-management theory, model and frameworks of patients with chronic heart failure, focusing on construction process, methods and existing problems.

BACKGROUND

Although the self-management theories have been created and verified for those patients with chronic heart failure, no reviews have been performed to integrate these theories.

DESIGN

A scoping review of recent literature (without a date limit) was conducted.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was performed. If the study reported the construction of a self-management theory, model or framework about chronic heart failure cases, it would be included in the review.

RESULTS

Fourteen studies were included, which could be categorized into situation-specific theory, middle-range theory and other theory models (including conceptual model, hypothetic regression model and identity description model). It also includes the update and validation of theories, the situation-specific theoretical of caregiver contributions extended from situation-specific theories and the nurse-led situation-specific theory in different contexts.

CONCLUSION

Self-management might contribute to start an education programme before patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) begin their chronic disease live as an individual. Our scoping review indicates that a series of self-management theories, models and frameworks for CHF patients have been developed, but more studies are still needed to validate and support these theories according to their cultural contexts.

Home-based cardiac rehabilitation and physical activity in people with heart failure: a secondary analysis of the REACH-HF randomised controlled trials

OBJECTIVES

To quantify the impact of a home-based cardiac rehabilitation intervention (Rehabilitation Enablement in Chronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF)) on objectively assessed physical activity (PA) of patients with heart failure (HF) and explore the extent by which patient characteristics are associated with a change in PA.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of randomised controlled trial data.

SETTING

Five centres in the UK.

PARTICIPANTS

247 patients with HF (mean age 70.9±10.3 years; 28% women).

INTERVENTIONS

REACH-HF versus usual care (control).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

PA was assessed over 7 days via GENEActiv triaxial accelerometer at baseline (pre-randomisation), post-intervention (4 months) and final follow-up (6-12 months). Using HF-specific intensity thresholds, intervention effects (REACH-HF vs control) on average min/day PA (inactivity, light PA and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA)) over all days, week days and weekend days were examined using linear regression analysis. Multivariable regression was used to explore associations between baseline patient characteristics and change in PA.

RESULTS

Although there was no difference between REACH-HF and control groups in 7-day PA levels post-intervention or at final follow-up, there was evidence of an increase in weekday MVPA (10.9 min/day, 95% CI: -2.94 to 24.69), light PA (26.9 min/day, 95% CI: -0.05 to 53.8) and decreased inactivity (-38.31 min/day, 95% CI: -72.1 to -4.5) in favour of REACH-HF. Baseline factors associated with an increase in PA from baseline to final follow-up were reduced MVPA, increased incremental shuttle walk test distance, increased Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety score and living with a child >18 years (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

While participation in the REACH-HF home-based cardiac rehabilitation intervention did not increase overall weekly activity, patient's behaviour patterns appeared to change with increased weekday PA levels and reduced inactivity. Baseline PA levels were highly predictive of PA change. Future focus should be on robust behavioural changes, improving overall levels of objectively assessed PA of people with HF.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS

ISRCTN78539530 and ISRCTN86234930.

Strengths-building through life purpose, self-care goal setting and social support: Study protocol for Caregiver Support

Background

For caregivers of people with heart failure, addressing a range of care recipient needs at home can potentially be burdensome, but caregivers may also gain meaning from caregiving. The Caregiver Support Program, a multicomponent strengths-based intervention, is designed to improve outcomes of heart failure caregivers.

Objectives

1) Test the feasibility and gauge an initial effect size of the Caregiver Support Program to improve caregiver quality of life (primary outcome), and fatigue and burden (secondary outcomes) from baseline to 16 weeks, 2) test whether fatigue and caregiver burden are associated with objective measures of resilience (sweat inflammatory cytokines (Il-6 and IL-10) and self-reported resilience, 3) evaluate changes in heart rate variability, IL-6 and IL-10, pre- and post-intervention.

Methods

This is a single-blind, two group, waitlist control trial. Eligible caregivers are 1) ≥ 18 years, 2) English speaking, 3) live with the person with heart failure or visit them at least 3 days per week to provide care, 4) provide support for at least 1 instrumental activity of daily living (IADL), 5) live within a 1 h driving radius of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and 6) the care-recipient has been hospitalized within the last 6 months. Trial participants are randomized into the immediate intervention (n = 24) or waitlist control group (n = 24). Data collection is at baseline, 16 weeks, and 32 weeks.

Conclusion

The Caregiver Support program has the potential to increase quality of life and decrease fatigue and caregiver burden for caregivers of people with heart failure and multiple co-morbidities.

The Perspectives of Patients with Chronic Diseases and Their Caregivers on Self-Management Interventions: A Scoping Review of Reviews

BACKGROUND

Self-management (SM) interventions are supportive interventions systematically provided by healthcare professionals, peers, or laypersons to increase the skills and confidence of patients in their ability to manage chronic diseases. We had two objectives: (1) to summarise the preferences and experiences of patients and their caregivers (informal caregivers and healthcare professionals) with SM in four chronic diseases and (2) to identify and describe the relevant outcomes for SM interventions from these perspectives.

METHODS

We conducted a mixed-methods scoping review of reviews. We searched three databases until December 2020 for quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods reviews exploring patients' and caregivers' preferences or experiences with SM in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and heart failure (HF). Quantitative data were narratively synthesised, and qualitative data followed a three-step descriptive thematic synthesis. Identified themes were categorised into outcomes or modifiable factors of SM interventions.

RESULTS

We included 148 reviews covering T2DM (n = 53 [35.8%]), obesity (n = 20 [13.5%]), COPD (n = 32 [21.6%]), HF (n = 38 [25.7%]), and those with more than one disease (n = 5 [3.4%]). We identified 12 main themes. Eight described the process of SM (disease progression, SM behaviours, social support, interaction with healthcare professionals, access to healthcare, costs for patients, culturally defined roles and perceptions, and health knowledge), and four described their experiences with SM interventions (the perceived benefit of the intervention, individualised care, sense of community with peers, and usability of equipment). Most themes and subthemes were categorised as outcomes of SM interventions.

CONCLUSION

The process of SM shaped the perspectives of patients and their caregivers on SM interventions. Their perspectives were influenced by the perceived benefit of the intervention, the sense of community with peers, the intervention's usability, and the level of individualised care. Our findings can inform the selection of patient-important outcomes, decision-making processes, including the formulation of recommendations, and the design and implementation of SM interventions.

The effectiveness of a nurse-led home-based heart failure self-management programme (the HOM-HEMP) for patients with chronic heart failure: A three-arm stratified randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Although important, heart failure self-care remains a challenge for many patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a nurse-led, home-based self-management psychosocial education intervention (HOM-HEMP). The primary outcome was patient's HF self-care in terms of maintenance, management and confidence. The secondary outcomes were cardiac self-efficacy, psychological wellbeing in terms of perceived social support, health related quality of life and levels of anxiety and depression. The clinical outcomes included New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class and numbers of unplanned health service visits due to cardiac-related reasons.

DESIGN

A three-arm stratified randomized controlled trial was conducted (Clinical trial registration number: NCT03108235).

METHODS

A total of 213 participants admitted for heart failure were recruited from the inpatient wards of a tertiary public hospital in Singapore. They were randomly allocated to the control group, the experimental group A or the experimental group B. All participants received the usual care provided by the hospital. Participants in experimental groups A and B received the HOM-HEMP intervention, and those in experimental group B received an additional supplemental smartphone application. Data were collected at baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months from baseline.

RESULTS

Compared to the control groups, participants in either of the experimental group had significantly higher levels of heart failure self-care maintenance (F = 4.222, p = 0.001), self-care confidence (F = 5.796, p < 0.001) and self-care management (p < 0.05) at 6-week, 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. In addition, both experimental groups had significantly higher levels of cardiac self-efficacy, better health related quality of life and lower depression levels than the control group after the study intervention. A higher proportion of participants in both experimental groups had a better New York Heart Association functional class at 6-week and 3-month follow-ups. Participants in the experimental group B also had significantly fewer cardiac-related unplanned hospital admissions and emergency room visits than the control group at 6-month follow-up. Results on perceived social support were not significant. The study outcomes in experimental group A and B were not significantly different at any of the post intervention follow-up.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggested that HOM-HEMP is an effective intervention for patients with heart failure in Singapore.

A qualitative study of nurses' experiences of self-care counseling in migrant patients with heart failure

Objectives

This study aims to enhance researchers’ and nurses’ understanding of how to best support migrant patients with heart failure in self-care management. Previous research on self-care in heart failure patients has highlighted its importance, particularly among migrant populations. Nurses play an important role in informing and engaging patients with chronic conditions like heart failure to support their active participation in self-care. However, nurses’ experiences of providing self-care counseling to migrant populations with heart failure have not been studied.

Methods

A qualitative study was conducted. Nurses working with migrant patients with HF (n = 13) from different types of facility in Western Sweden were interviewed between October and December 2020. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis.

Results

The main theme that emerged from the interviews was the difficulty for nurses “to find balance” in self-care counseling. The nurses during self-care counseling had: “to accept challenges,” “to use creative strategies,” faced “problems related to health literacy,” and “to work according to their (the nurses’) obligations.” It was evident that nurses faced several challenges in counseling migrants in self-care, including language and cultural barriers, time resource constraints, low levels of health literacy, and experienced disharmony between the law and their professional norms. They perceived building caring relationships with their patients to be crucial to fostering health-promoting self-care processes.

Conclusions

To increase self-care adherence, nurses must become more sensitive to cultural differences and adapt self-care counseling to patients’ health literacy. The findings of this research support and challenge nurses in providing the best counsel to migrant patients with heart failure living in Sweden’s multi-ethnic society. Policymakers in the health care organization should act to facilitate mutual cultural understanding between all involved partners for patient-safe self-care counseling.

A facilitated home-based cardiac rehabilitation intervention for people with heart failure and their caregivers: a research programme including the REACH-HF RCT

Background

Rates of participation in centre (hospital)-cardiac rehabilitation by patients with heart failure are suboptimal. Heart failure has two main phenotypes differing in underlying pathophysiology: heart failure with reduced ejection fraction is characterised by depressed left ventricular systolic function (‘reduced ejection fraction’), whereas heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is diagnosed after excluding other causes of dyspnoea with normal ejection fraction. This programme aimed to develop and evaluate a facilitated home-based cardiac rehabilitation intervention that could increase the uptake of cardiac rehabilitation while delivering the clinical benefits of centre-based cardiac rehabilitation.

Objectives

To develop an evidence-informed, home-based, self-care cardiac rehabilitation programme for patients with heart failure and their caregivers [the REACH-HF (Rehabilitation Enablement in Chronic Heart Failure) intervention]. To conduct a pilot randomised controlled trial to assess the feasibility of a full trial of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the REACH-HF intervention in addition to usual care in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. To assess the short- and long-term clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the REACH-HF intervention in addition to usual care in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and their caregivers.

Design

Intervention mapping to develop the REACH-HF intervention; uncontrolled feasibility study; pilot randomised controlled trial in those with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction; randomised controlled trial with a trial-based cost-effectiveness analysis in those with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction; qualitative studies including process evaluation; systematic review of cardiac rehabilitation in heart failure; and modelling to assess long-term cost-effectiveness (in those with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction).

Setting

Four centres in England and Wales (Birmingham, Cornwall, Gwent and York); one centre in Scotland (Dundee) for a pilot randomised controlled trial.

Participants

Adults aged ≥ 18 years with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (left ventricular ejection fraction < 45%) for the main randomised controlled trial (n = 216), and those with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (left ventricular ejection fraction ≥ 45%) for the pilot randomised controlled trial (n = 50).

Intervention

A self-care, facilitated cardiac rehabilitation manual was offered to patients (and participating caregivers) at home over 12 weeks by trained health-care professionals in addition to usual care or usual care alone.

Main outcome measures

The primary outcome was disease-specific health-related quality of life measured using the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire at 12 months. Secondary outcomes included deaths and hospitalisations.

Results

The main randomised controlled trial recruited 216 participants with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and 97 caregivers. A significant and clinically meaningful between-group difference in the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire score (primary outcome) at 12 months (–5.7 points, 95% confidence interval –10.6 to –0.7 points) favoured the REACH-HF intervention (p = 0.025). Eight (4%) patients (four in each group) had died at 12 months. There was no significant difference in hospital admissions, at 12 months, with 19 participants in the REACH-HF intervention group having at least one hospital admission, compared with 24 participants in the control group (odds ratio 0.72, 95% confidence interval 0.35 to 1.51; p = 0.386). The mean cost of the intervention was £418 per participant with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. The costs at 12 months were, on average, £401 higher in the intervention group than in the usual care alone group. Model-based economic evaluation, extrapolating from the main randomised controlled trial in those with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction over 4 years, found that adding the REACH-HF intervention to usual care had an estimated mean cost per participant of £15,452 (95% confidence interval £14,240 to £16,780) and a mean quality-adjusted life-year gain of 4.47 (95% confidence interval 3.83 to 4.91) years, compared with £15,051 (95% confidence interval £13,844 to £16,289) and 4.24 (95% confidence interval 4.05 to 4.43) years, respectively, for usual care alone. This gave an incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year of £1721. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated 78% probability that the intervention plus usual care versus usual care alone has a cost-effectiveness below the willingness-to-pay threshold of £20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained. The intervention was well received by participants with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and those with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, as well as their caregivers. Both randomised controlled trials recruited to target, with > 85% retention at follow-up.

Limitations

Key limitations included (1) lack of blinding – given the nature of the intervention and the control we could not mask participants to treatments, so our results may reflect participant expectation bias; (2) that we were not able to capture consistent participant-level data on level of intervention adherence; (3) that there may be an impact on the generalisability of findings due to the demographics of the trial patients, as most were male (78%) and we recruited only seven people from ethnic minorities.

Conclusions

Evaluation of the comprehensive, facilitated, home-based REACH-HF intervention for participants with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and caregivers indicated clinical effectiveness in terms of health-related quality of life and patient self-care but no other secondary outcomes. Although the economic analysis conducted alongside the full randomised controlled trial did not produce significant differences on the EuroQol-5 Dimensions or in quality-adjusted life-years, economic modelling suggested greater cost-effectiveness of the intervention than usual care. Our REACH-HF intervention offers a new evidence-based cardiac rehabilitation option that could increase uptake of cardiac rehabilitation in patients with heart failure not attracted to or able to access hospital-based programmes.

Future work

Systematic collection of real-world data would track future changes in uptake of and adherence to alternative cardiac rehabilitation interventions in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and increase understanding of how changes in service delivery might affect clinical and health economic outcomes. The findings of our pilot randomised controlled trial in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction support progression to a full multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Trial registration

Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN86234930 and ISRCTN78539530.

Funding details

This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grants for Applied Research programme and will be published in full in Programme Grants for Applied Research; Vol. 9, No. 1. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Exploring the opinion of stakeholders about self-care, home care and hospital management of heart failure patients: A qualitative study

Introduction

Heart failure is a widespread chronic cardiac illness with varying etiologies. If the HF patients manage themselves at home by following the appropriate advice by healthcare professionals, they tend to have better quality of life and less readmissions. This study was aimed to identify and explore practices of self-management by heart failure patients, home management of heart failure by their family caregivers and hospital management by healthcare providers.

Methods

A qualitative study was conducted in a tertiary care center in Northern India on participants (patients, their family caregivers, doctors and nurses) who were recruited purposively and interviewed individually by principle investigator using semi-structured questionnaires. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed after taking informed consent. Iterative process including coding, reviewing and analyzing was done by four researchers and themes were finalized.

Results

Total 41 participants (15 patients, 12 family caregivers, 4 doctors and 10 nurses) completed the interviews. It was observed that patients and family caregivers were not able to manage heart failure efficiently. Nurses and doctors reported many barriers to provide specialized care to these patients.

Discussion

There were definite barriers and challenges in the management of heart failure symptoms by the stakeholders. For the patients and family members who suffer this debilitating illness, managing heroically is a challenge. It is important to develop self-care management protocol for the heart failure patients. Healthcare professionals must overcome the barriers to train patients and family caregivers. Multidisciplinary integration can fulfill the gap in providing care to such patients.

Facilitators and Barriers to the Development of Health Literacy Capacities Over Time for Self-Management

BACKGROUND

Health literacy is a dynamic construct that is content and context specific. An understanding of the facilitators and barriers involved in the development of health literacy over time can provide important insights for the health care providers (HCP) in supporting patients with chronic illness.

OBJECTIVE

The study was conducted to expand an understanding of how health literacy development can be supported through exploration of the main facilitators and barriers in the process.

METHODS

This study used a longitudinal qualitative study design involving repeat interviews at three separate time points over a 12-month period. A purposive sample of 26 participants attending a structured cardiovascular disease risk-reduction program participated in the study, 17 of whom completed all three interviews. The European Health Literacy Survey measure was used to determine health literacy levels at the beginning and end of the 12-month period. Employing qualitative thematic analysis and a longitudinal-specific question framework, a trajectory approach was applied to explore individual cases longitudinally.

KEY RESULTS

Facilitators and barriers to health literacy capacity development were identified. Participants demonstrated increased perceptions of having control and being empowered over time. However, this was also found to be affected by external life events. Study participants were also found to be embedding health knowledge, motivation, and behaviors over time within the everyday contexts of their lives. The relationship with the HCP permeated all aspects of health literacy capacity development, including aspects of treatment decision-making. Participants identified the need for psychological supports and the increased importance of looking after their mental health.

CONCLUSIONS

Positive developments in health literacy capacities are important for the self-management of illness. Longitudinal findings underscore the importance of the HCP in supporting the development of health literacy capacities over time. These findings lend support to the need to integrate health literacy into medical and other HCP curricula to raise awareness of the concept of health literacy. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2020;4(2):e104-e118.] PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: Using a longitudinal qualitative study design, this study proposes that health literacy capacities develop over time and that the health care provider (HCP) plays a central role in this process. Findings from this study support the need to embed health literacy training into medical and other applied HCP curricula to raise awareness of the concept of health literacy.

A qualitative study of living with the burden from heart failure treatment: Exploring the patient capacity for self-care

Aim

To explore how patients with heart failure perceive their capacity to manage treatment and self-care.

Design

A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods

Patients (N = 17) were recruited from a nurse-led heart failure outpatient clinic from May-August 2017. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and analysed using systematic text condensation.

Results

Three main themes were identified as follows: "Personal characteristics," "Coping strategies" and "Emotional and informative support." The first main theme contained the subthemes "inherent strength" and "maintenance of a positive attitude." The second main theme included the subthemes "selective denial," "ability to adapt by setting new goals" and "careful selection of information." The third main theme contained the subthemes "support from health professionals enhancing patient capacity," "support from next of kin in patients' self-care" and "practical support and hope from peers."

Chinese Hospitalized Cardiovascular Patients' Attitudes Towards Self-Management: A Qualitative Study

PURPOSE

This study is aiming to investigate cardiovascular patients' attitudes towards self-management during hospitalization in China.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Twenty-nine individuals living with cardiovascular disease from one designated Cardiology Department in Hangzhou, China, were recruited through a purposive sampling procedure. A qualitative descriptive methodology was used. Semi-structured interviews were also used to gain attitudes toward self-management. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed by thematic analysis to develop the results.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified from the qualitative data: (1): Responsibilities of self-management; (2): Reflections on self-management; (3): Acknowledgement of self-management support; (4): Challenges in implementing and adherence to self-management. Additionally, interview data were also given to illustrate these main themes emerging during the analysis. Patients gradually took their responsibilities to manage chronic symptoms. During their self-management process, they did reflections to help correct their regiments through supportive interactions. Health system responsiveness, health disparities, social capital, and cultural setting were the main external factors influencing better self-management implementation and adherence.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed the hospitalized cardiovascular patients' attitudes towards self-management in China. These findings emphasized the importance of patients' responsibility, reflections, and various social support receiving and pointed out specific external factors influencing the health outcomes and their quality of life. This study also proves the guide for the policymakers and health system better instructions to develop individually and culturally tailored advanced self-management interventions and programs.

Promoting a sense of security in everyday life-A case study of patients and professionals moving towards co-production in an atrial fibrillation "learning café"

BACKGROUND

An improvement initiative sought to improve care for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients; many felt insecure about how to cope with AF.

OBJECTIVE

To reveal AF patients' and professionals' experiences of pilot-testing a Learning Café group education programme, aimed at increasing the patients' sense of security in everyday life.

DESIGN

Using an organizational case study design, we combined quantitative data (patients' sense of security) and qualitative data (project documentation; focus group interviews with five patients and five professionals) analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis.

SETTING

AF patients and a multiprofessional team at a cardiac care unit in a Swedish district hospital.

IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES

Two registered nurses invited AF patients and partners to four 2.5-hour Learning Café sessions. In the first session, they solicited participants' questions about life with AF. A physician, a registered nurse and a physiotherapist were invited to address these questions in the remaining sessions.

RESULTS

AF patients reported gaining a greater sense of security in everyday life and anticipating a future shift from emergency care to planned care. Professionals reported enhanced professional development, learning more about person-centredness and gaining greater control of their own work situation. The organization gained knowledge about patient and family involvement.

CONCLUSIONS

The Learning Café pilot test-exemplifying movement towards co-production through patient-professional collaboration-generated positive outcomes for patients (sense of security), professionals (work satisfaction; learning) and the organization (better care) in line with contemporary models for quality improvement and with Self-Determination Theory. This approach merits further testing and evaluation in other contexts.

Home-based rehabilitation for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: mixed methods process evaluation of the REACH-HF multicentre randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

To identify and explore change processes explaining the effects of the Rehabilitation Enablement in Chronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) intervention taking account of reach, amount of intervention received, delivery fidelity and patient and caregiver perspectives.

DESIGN

Mixed methods process evaluation parallel to a randomised controlled trial using data from the intervention group (REACH-HF plus usual care).

SETTING

Four centres in the UK (Birmingham, Cornwall, Gwent and York).

PARTICIPANTS

People with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and their caregivers.

METHODS

The REACH-HF intervention consisted of a self-help manual for patients with HFrEF and caregivers facilitated over 12 weeks by trained healthcare professionals. The process evaluation used multimodal mixed methods analysis. Data consisted of audio recorded intervention sessions; demographic data; intervention fidelity scores for intervention group participants (107 patients and 53 caregivers); qualitative interviews at 4 and 12 months with a sample of 19 patients and 17 caregivers.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Quantitative data: intervention fidelity and number, frequency and duration of intervention sessions received. Qualitative data: experiences and perspectives of intervention participants and caregivers.

RESULTS

Intervention session attendance with facilitators was high. Fidelity scores were indicative of adequate quality of REACH-HF intervention delivery, although indicating scope for improvement in several areas. Intervention effectiveness was contingent on matching the intervention implementation to the concerns, beliefs and goals of participants. Behaviour change was sustained when shared meaning was established. Respondents' comorbidities, socio-economic circumstances and existing networks of support also affected changes in health-related quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

By combining longitudinal mixed methods data, the essential ingredients of complex interventions can be better identified, interrogated and tested. This can maximise the clinical application of research findings and enhance the capacity of multidisciplinary and multisite teams to implement the intervention.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ISRCTN25032672; Pre-results.

Caregiver outcomes of the REACH-HF multicentre randomized controlled trial of home-based rehabilitation for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

BACKGROUND

Caregivers frequently provide support to people living with long-term conditions. However, there is paucity of evidence of interventions that support caregivers in their role. Rehabilitation EnAblement in Chronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) is a novel home-based, health-professional-facilitated, self-management programme for patients with heart failure (HF) and their caregivers.

METHODS

Based on the random allocation of individual adult patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and left ventricular ejection fraction <45% within the past five years, the caregiver of patients was allocated to receive the REACH-HF intervention over 12 weeks (REACH-HF group) or not (control group). Caregiver outcomes were generic health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), Family Caregiver Quality of Life Scale questionnaire (FamQol), Caregiver Burden Questionnaire HF (CBQ-HF), Caregiver Contribution to Self-care of HF Index questionnaire (CC-SCHFI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Outcomes were compared between groups at 4, 6 and 12 months follow-up. Twenty caregivers receiving REACH-HF were purposively selected for qualitative interviews at 4 and 12 months.

RESULTS

Compared with controls (44 caregivers), the REACH-HF group (53 caregivers) had a higher mean CC-SCHFI confidence score at 12 months (57.5 vs 62.8, adjusted mean difference: 9.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.8-16.8, p = 0.016). No significant between group differences were seen in other caregiver outcomes. Qualitative interviews showed that most caregivers who received the REACH-HF intervention made positive changes to how they supported the HF patient they were caring for, and perceived that they had increased their confidence in the caregiver role over time.

CONCLUSION

Provision of the REACH-HF intervention for caregivers of HF patients improved their confidence of self-management and was perceived for some to be helpful in supporting their caregiver role.

Exercise training in heart failure

Exercise training (ET) in heart failure (HF) has long been established as an important part of HF care. ET is known to improve quality of life and functional capacity in a number of ways. Despite its proposed benefits, evidence supporting its routine inclusion in standard rehabilitation programme is at times conflicting, partly because of the significant heterogeneity present in available randomised controlled trials. There is lack of evidence with regard to the duration of the overall benefit, the optimal exercise regimen and whether certain types of HF aetiologies benefit more than others. The aim of this review is to provide an update to date literature review of the positive and negative evidence surrounding ET in HF, while proposing an efficient novel in-hospital exercise-based rehabilitation programme for patients with HF in addition to a pre-existing HF clinic.

Heart failure self-management and normalizing symptoms: an exploration of decision making in the community

OBJECTIVE

To explore the decision making processes undertaken by community-dwelling individuals with heart failure as they experience symptom changes.

BACKGROUND

Heart failure patients are responsible for daily self-management that includes responding to symptom fluctuations between exacerbations. Despite education, some patients fail to seek timely medical intervention when symptoms change.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with homecare patients after receiving self-management education. Grounded theory methods and qualitative software were used to collect and analyze the data.

RESULTS

Five themes were identified: perceiving symptoms, alleviating actions and control, normalizing symptoms, absence of help seeking behaviors, and decreased functional capacity. Normalizing symptoms included actions taken by participants to mitigate symptom fluctuations. Daily fluctuations were assimilated into normal life resulting in desensitization of symptom recognition and decreased functional capacity.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings support the need to educate on early symptom recognition, the benefits of safe physical activity, and building a system to support self-management patient-physician collaboration.

Managing expectations: cognitive authority and experienced control in complex healthcare processes

Background

Balancing the normative expectations of others (accountabilities) against the personal and distributed resources available to meet them (capacity) is a ubiquitous feature of social relations in many settings. This is an important problem in the management of long–term conditions, because of widespread problems of non-adherence to treatment regimens. Using long-term conditions as an example, we set out middle range theory of this balancing work.

Methods

A middle-range theory was constructed four stages. First, a qualitative elicitation study of men with heart failure was used to develop general propositions about patient and care giver experience, and about the ways that the organisation and delivery of care affected this. Second, these propositions were developed and confirmed through a systematic review of qualitative research literature. Third, theoretical propositions and constructs were built, refined and presented as a logic model associated with two main theoretical propositions. Finally, a construct validation exercise was undertaken, in which construct definitions informed reanalysis of a set of systematic reviews of studies of patient and caregiver experiences of heart failure that had been included in an earlier meta-review.

Results

Cognitive Authority Theory identifies, characterises and explains negotiation processes in in which people manage their relations with the expectations of normative systems – like those encountered in the management of long-term conditions. Here, their cognitive authority is the product of an assessment of competence, trustworthiness and credibility made about a person by other participants in a healthcare process; and their experienced control is a function of the degree to which they successfully manage the external process-specific limiting factors that make it difficult to otherwise perform in their role.

Conclusion

Cognitive Authority Theory assists in explaining how participants in complex social processes manage important relational aspects of inequalities in power and expertise. It can play an important part in understanding the dynamics of participation in healthcare processes. It suggests ways in which these burdens may lead to relationally induced non-adherence to treatment regimens and self-care programmes, and points to targets where intervention may reduce these adverse outcomes.

Understanding heart failure; explaining telehealth - a hermeneutic systematic review

BACKGROUND

Enthusiasts for telehealth extol its potential for supporting heart failure management. But randomised trials have been slow to recruit and produced conflicting findings; real-world roll-out has been slow. We sought to inform policy by making sense of a complex literature on heart failure and its remote management.

METHODS

Through database searching and citation tracking, we identified 7 systematic reviews of systematic reviews, 32 systematic reviews (including 17 meta-analyses and 8 qualitative reviews); six mega-trials and over 60 additional relevant empirical studies and commentaries. We synthesised these using Boell's hermeneutic methodology for systematic review, which emphasises the quest for understanding.

RESULTS

Heart failure is a complex and serious condition with frequent co-morbidity and diverse manifestations including severe tiredness. Patients are often frightened, bewildered, socially isolated and variably able to self-manage. Remote monitoring technologies are many and varied; they create new forms of knowledge and new possibilities for care but require fundamental changes to clinical roles and service models and place substantial burdens on patients, carers and staff. The policy innovation of remote biomarker monitoring enabling timely adjustment of medication, mediated by "activated" patients, is based on a modernist vision of efficient, rational, technology-mediated and guideline-driven ("cold") care. It contrasts with relationship-based ("warm") care valued by some clinicians and by patients who are older, sicker and less technically savvy. Limited uptake of telehealth can be analysed in terms of key tensions: between tidy, "textbook" heart failure and the reality of multiple comorbidities; between basic and intensive telehealth; between activated, well-supported patients and vulnerable, unsupported ones; between "cold" and "warm" telehealth; and between fixed and agile care programmes.

CONCLUSION

The limited adoption of telehealth for heart failure has complex clinical, professional and institutional causes, which are unlikely to be elucidated by adding more randomised trials of technology-on versus technology-off to an already-crowded literature. An alternative approach is proposed, based on naturalistic study designs, application of social and organisational theory, and co-design of new service models based on socio-technical principles. Conventional systematic reviews (whose goal is synthesising data) can be usefully supplemented by hermeneutic reviews (whose goal is deepening understanding).

A qualitative meta-summary using Sandelowski and Barroso’s method for integrating qualitative research to explore barriers and facilitators to self-care in heart failure patients

Background:

Individual qualitative studies provide varied reasons for why heart failure patients do not engage in self-care, yet articles that aggregated primary studies on the subject have methodological weaknesses that justified the execution of a qualitative meta-summary.

Aim:

The aim of this study is to integrate the findings of qualitative studies pertaining to barriers and facilitators to self-care using meta-summary techniques.

Methods:

Qualitative meta-summary techniques by Sandelowski and Barroso were used to combine the findings of qualitative studies. Meta-summary techniques include: (1) extraction of relevant statements of findings from each report; (2) reduction of these statements into abstracted findings and (3) calculation of effect sizes. Databases were searched systematically for qualitative studies published between January 2010 and July 2015. Out of 2264 papers identified, 31 reports based on the accounts of 814 patients were included in the meta-summary.

Results:

A total of 37 statements of findings provided a comprehensive inventory of findings across all reports. Out of these statements of findings, 21 were classified as barriers, 13 as facilitators and three were classed as both barriers and facilitators. The main themes relating to barriers and facilitators to self-care were: beliefs, benefits of self-care, comorbidities, financial constraints, symptom recognition, ethnic background, inconsistent self-care, insufficient information, positive and negative emotions, organizational context, past experiences, physical environment, self-initiative, self-care adverse effects, social context and personal preferences.

Conclusion:

Based on the meta-findings identified in this study, future intervention development could address these barriers and facilitators in order to further enhance self-care abilities in heart failure patients.

Self Managing Heart Failure in Remote Australia - Translating Concepts into Clinical Practice

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is an ambulatory health care condition characterized by episodes of decompensation and is usually without cure. It is a leading cause for morbidity and mortality and the lead cause for hospital admissions in older patients in the developed world. The long-term requirement for medical care and pharmaceuticals contributes to significant health care costs. CHF management follows a hierarchy from physician prescription to allied health, predominately nurse-led, delivery of care. Health services are easier to access in urban compared to rural settings. The differentials for more specialized services could be even greater. Remote Australia is thus faced with unique challenges in delivering CHF best practice. Chronic disease self-management programs (CDSMP) were designed to increase patient participation in their health and alleviate stress on health systems. There have been CDSMP successes with some diseases, although challenges still exist for CHF. These challenges are amplified in remote Australia due to geographic and demographic factors, increased burden of disease, and higher incidence of comorbidities. In this review we explore CDSMP for CHF and the challenges for our region.

Experiences of long-term life-limiting conditions among patients and carers: what can we learn from a meta-review of systematic reviews of qualitative studies of chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic kidney disease?

OBJECTIVES

To summarise and synthesise published qualitative studies to characterise factors that shape patient and caregiver experiences of chronic heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).

DESIGN

Meta-review of qualitative systematic reviews and metasyntheses. Papers analysed using content analysis.

DATA SOURCES

CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, Scopus and Web of Science were searched from January 2000 to April 2015.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES

Systematic reviews and qualitative metasyntheses where the participants were patients, caregivers and which described experiences of care for CHF, COPD and CKD in primary and secondary care who were aged ≥18 years.

RESULTS

Searches identified 5420 articles, 53 of which met inclusion criteria. Reviews showed that patients' and caregivers' help seeking and decision-making were shaped by their degree of structural advantage (socioeconomic status, spatial location, health service quality); their degree of interactional advantage (cognitive advantage, affective state and interaction quality) and their degree of structural resilience (adaptation to adversity, competence in managing care and caregiver response to demands).

CONCLUSIONS

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first synthesis of qualitative systematic reviews in the field. An important outcome of this overview is an emphasis on what patients and caregivers value and on attributes of healthcare systems, relationships and practices that affect the distressing effects and consequences of pathophysiological deterioration in CHF, COPD and CKD. Interventions that seek to empower individual patients may have limited effectiveness for those who are most affected by the combined weight of structural, relational and practical disadvantage identified in this overview. We identify potential targets for interventions that could address these disadvantages.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER

PROSPERO CRD42014014547.

Family members' or friends' involvement in self-care for patients with depressive symptoms and co-morbid chronic conditions

OBJECTIVES

To describe the support that patients reported receiving from family or friends (F/F) while participating in a self-care intervention for depressive symptoms; examine associations between patient-reported F/F support and use of self-care materials; and describe F/F perceptions of involvement in a subsample of F/F.

METHODS

One hundred eighty-nine of 223 (85%) patients aged 40+ with chronic physical conditions and co-morbid depressive symptoms participating in a randomized self-care intervention trial, completed structured telephone surveys at three months about the F/F support received. Ten F/F participated in post study qualitative interviews on the support provided.

RESULTS

30%, 44%, and 91% of patients reported overall F/F support with self-care, F/F involvement with the self-care intervention and emotional support, respectively. 61% felt positively and 10% felt negatively or conflicted with F/F support. F/F involvement in the self-care intervention was the only variable associated with patient use of self-care materials when examined alongside all F/F support variables (Proportional Odds Ratio = 1.21; 95% C.I. = 1.01, 1.45). F/F perceived less involvement in the self-care intervention than patients.

DISCUSSION

Patients engaged in a self-care intervention for depressive symptoms use more self-care materials when they perceive F/F involvement in the intervention. Patients and F/F may perceive involvement differently and benefit from discussions about potential F/F roles.

Optimising self-care support for people with heart failure and their caregivers: development of the Rehabilitation Enablement in Chronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) intervention using intervention mapping

BACKGROUND

We aimed to establish the support needs of people with heart failure and their caregivers and develop an intervention to improve their health-related quality of life.

METHODS

We used intervention mapping to guide the development of our intervention. We identified "targets for change" by synthesising research evidence and international guidelines and consulting with patients, caregivers and health service providers. We then used behaviour change theory, expert opinion and a taxonomy of behaviour change techniques, to identify barriers to and facilitators of change and to match intervention strategies to each target. A patient and public involvement group helped to identify patient and caregiver needs, refine the intervention objectives and strategies and deliver training to the intervention facilitators. A feasibility study (ISRCTN25032672) involving 23 patients, 12 caregivers and seven trained facilitators at four sites assessed the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention and quality of delivery and generated ideas to help refine the intervention.

RESULTS

The Rehabilitation Enablement in Chronic Heart Failure (REACH-HF) intervention is a comprehensive self-care support programme comprising the "Heart Failure Manual", a choice of two exercise programmes for patients, a "Family and Friends Resource" for caregivers, a "Progress Tracker" tool and a facilitator training course. The main targets for change are engaging in exercise training, monitoring for symptom deterioration, managing stress and anxiety, managing medications and understanding heart failure. Secondary targets include managing low mood and smoking cessation. The intervention is facilitated by trained healthcare professionals with specialist cardiac experience over 12 weeks, via home and telephone contacts. The feasibility study found high levels of satisfaction and engagement with the intervention from facilitators, patients and caregivers. Intervention fidelity analysis and stakeholder feedback suggested that there was room for improvement in several areas, especially in terms of addressing caregivers' needs. The REACH-HF materials were revised accordingly.

CONCLUSIONS

We have developed a comprehensive, evidence-informed, theoretically driven self-care and rehabilitation intervention that is grounded in the needs of patients and caregivers. A randomised controlled trial is underway to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the REACH-HF intervention in people with heart failure and their caregivers.

Self-Management Skills in Chronic Disease Management: What Role Does Health Literacy Have?

BACKGROUND

Self-management-based interventions can lead to improved health outcomes in people with chronic diseases, and multiple patient characteristics are associated with the development of self-management behaviors. Low health literacy (HL) has been implicated in poorer self-management behaviors and increased costs to health services. However, the mechanisms behind this relationship remain unclear. Therefore, the aim of the current review is to assess the association between HL and patient characteristics related to self-management behaviors (i.e., disease-related knowledge, beliefs, and self-efficacy).

METHODS

The review comprised 3 phases: 1) database searches, 2) eligibility screening, and 3) study quality assessment and strength of evidence. Inclusion criteria specified that a valid HL screening tool was used, that at least one self-management behavior was assessed, and that patients had a chronic condition.

RESULTS

An initial search generated a total of 712 articles, of which 31 studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria. A consistent association was found between low HL and poorer disease-related knowledge in respiratory diseases, diabetes, and multiple disease categories. A significant association between low HL and poorer self-efficacy was reported in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus, and multiple disease categories. HL was significantly associated with poorer beliefs in respiratory, musculoskeletal, and cardiovascular diseases.

DISCUSSION

The findings from the current review suggest that low HL may affect behaviors necessary for the development of self-management skills. Given that self-management strategies are core components for effective treatment of a range of chronic diseases, low HL poses a considerable health concern. Further research is needed to understand the mediating influence of HL on disease-related knowledge, self-efficacy, and beliefs. From this, HL-sensitive, self-management interventions ought to be devised and implemented.

Meta-Study as Diagnostic: Toward Content Over Form in Qualitative Synthesis

Having previously conducted qualitative syntheses of the diabetes literature, we wanted to explore the changes in theoretical approaches, methodological practices, and the construction of substantive knowledge which have recently been presented in the qualitative diabetes literature. The aim of this research was to explore the feasibility of synthesizing existing qualitative syntheses of patient perspectives of diabetes using meta-study methodology. A systematic review of qualitative literature, published between 2000 and 2013, was conducted. Six articles were identified as qualitative syntheses. The meta-study methodology was used to compare the theoretical, methodological, analytic, and synthetic processes across the six studies, exploring the potential for an overarching synthesis. We identified that while research questions have increasingly concentrated on specific aspects of diabetes, the focus on systematic review processes has led to the neglect of qualitative theory and methods. This can inhibit the production of compelling results with meaningful clinical applications. Although unable to produce a synthesis of syntheses, we recommend that researchers who conduct qualitative syntheses pay equal attention to qualitative traditions and systematic review processes, to produce research products that are both credible and applicable.

Needs of caregivers in heart failure management: A qualitative study

OBJECTIVES

To identify the needs of caregivers supporting a person with heart failure and to inform the development of a caregiver resource to be used as part of a home-based self-management programme.

METHODS

A qualitative study informed by thematic analysis involving 26 caregivers in individual interviews or a focus group.

RESULTS

Three distinct aspects of caregiver support in heart failure management were identified. Firstly, caregivers identified needs about supporting management of heart failure including: coping with the variability of heart failure symptoms, what to do in an emergency, understanding and managing medicines, providing emotional support, promoting exercise and physical activity, providing personal care, living with a cardiac device and supporting depression management. Secondly, as they make the transition to becoming a caregiver, they need to develop skills to undertake difficult discussions about the role; communicate with health professionals; manage their own mental health, well-being and sleep; and manage home and work. Thirdly, caregivers require skills to engage social support, and voluntary and formal services while recognising that the long-term future is uncertain.

DISCUSSION

The identification of the needs of caregiver has been used to inform the development of a home-based heart failure intervention facilitated by a trained health care practitioner.

Capturing the experiences of patients across multiple complex interventions: a meta-qualitative approach

OBJECTIVES

The perspectives, needs and preferences of individuals with complex health and social needs can be overlooked in the design of healthcare interventions. This study was designed to provide new insights on patient perspectives drawing from the qualitative evaluation of 5 complex healthcare interventions.

SETTING

Patients and their caregivers were recruited from 5 interventions based in primary, hospital and community care in Ontario, Canada.

PARTICIPANTS

We included 62 interviews from 44 patients and 18 non-clinical caregivers.

INTERVENTION

Our team analysed the transcripts from 5 distinct projects. This approach to qualitative meta-evaluation identifies common issues described by a diverse group of patients, therefore providing potential insights into systems issues.

OUTCOME MEASURES

This study is a secondary analysis of qualitative data; therefore, no outcome measures were identified.

RESULTS

We identified 5 broad themes that capture the patients' experience and highlight issues that might not be adequately addressed in complex interventions. In our study, we found that: (1) the emergency department is the unavoidable point of care; (2) patients and caregivers are part of complex and variable family systems; (3) non-medical issues mediate patients' experiences of health and healthcare delivery; (4) the unanticipated consequences of complex healthcare interventions are often the most valuable; and (5) patient experiences are shaped by the healthcare discourses on medically complex patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that key assumptions about patients that inform intervention design need to be made explicit in order to build capacity to better understand and support patients with multiple chronic diseases. Across many health systems internationally, multiple models are being implemented simultaneously that may have shared features and target similar patients, and a qualitative meta-evaluation approach, thus offers an opportunity for cumulative learning at a system level in addition to informing intervention design and modification.

Patient Self-management in Chronic Heart Failure - Establishing Concordance Between Guidelines and Practice

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a progressive and debilitating disease with a broad symptom profile, intermittently marked by periods of acute decompensation. CHF patients are encouraged to self-manage their illness, such as adhering to medical regimens and monitoring symptoms, to optimise health outcomes and quality of life. In so doing, patients are asked to collaborate with their health service providers with regard to their care. However, patients generally do not self-manage well, even with specialist support. Moreover, self-management interventions are yet to demonstrate morbidity or mortality benefits. Social network approaches to self-management consider the availability and mobilisation of all resources, beyond those of only the patient and healthcare providers. Used in conjunction with e-health platforms, social network approaches may offer a means by which to optimise self-management programmes of the future.

Implementing guideline based heart failure care in the Northern Territory: challenges and solutions

The Northern Territory of Australia is a vast area serviced by two major tertiary hospitals. It has both a unique demography and geography, which pose challenges for delivering optimal heart failure services. The prevalence of congestive heart failure continues to increase, imposing a significant burden on health infrastructure and health care costs. Specific patient groups suffer disproportionately from increased disease severity or service related issues often represented as a "health care gap". The syndrome itself is characterised by ongoing symptoms interspersed with acute decompensation requiring lifelong therapy and is rarely reversible. For the individual client the overwhelming attention to heart failure care and the impact of health care gaps can be devastating. This gap may also contribute to widening socio-economic differentials for families and communities as they seek to take on some of the care responsibilities. This review explores the challenges of heart failure best practice in the Northern Territory and the opportunities to improve on service delivery. The discussions highlighted could have implications for health service delivery throughout regional centres in Australia and health systems in other countries.