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Self‐care Behaviour of Patients with Heart Failure
Author(s) -
Jaarsma Tiny,
AbuSaad Huda Huijer,
Dracup Kathleen,
Halfens Ruud
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2000.tb00571.x
Subject(s) - intervention (counseling) , heart failure , self care , medicine , judgement , nursing , intensive care , psychology , health care , intensive care medicine , political science , law , economics , economic growth
Heart failure‐related self‐care behaviour is important to optimize outcomes for patients with heart failure. Such behaviours include adherence to medication, diet and exercise, but self‐care also refers to such things as seeking assistance when symptoms occur, and daily weighing. The study aim was to describe heart failure‐related self‐care behaviour, to test the effect of education and support on self‐care behaviour and to discuss limitations. Data were collected from 128 heart failure patients during their hospital stay and at 1‐, 3‐ and 9‐month follow‐ups. Concepts from Orem's general theory of nursing were used to describe heart failure‐related self‐care behaviour and its limitations. The effects of intensive systematized and planned education from a nurse in hospital and at home were evaluated in an experimental design. Results showed that education enhanced self‐care behaviour significantly at 1 and 3 months after discharge. Despite intensive education and support, patients did not manifest all self‐care behaviours that might be expected. Patients in both the intervention and control groups described limitations in knowledge, judgement/decision‐making and skills. It can be concluded that supportive‐educative intervention is effective in enhancing heart failure‐related self‐care behaviour early after discharge. To optimize such intervention, more emphasis must be placed on behavioural strategies (e.g. self‐medication), social support (e.g. from family members) and reinforcement (e.g. home visits).