Assessing the Impact of a Transitional Care Program on Symptom Recognition and Self-care in Heart Failure Patients
Background: Heart failure (HF) is a complex, costly and debilitating chronic health condition. Symptom recognition and self-care are crucial components of heart failure management; however, many HF patients struggle to perform these behaviors and skills at a proficient level. A transitional care pro...
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| Language: | en_US |
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The University of Arizona.
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10150/622989 http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/622989 |
| Summary: | Background: Heart failure (HF) is a complex, costly and debilitating chronic health condition. Symptom recognition and self-care are crucial components of heart failure management; however, many HF patients struggle to perform these behaviors and skills at a proficient level. A transitional care program in the Southwest provides services to heart failure patients. A primary program aim is to help facilitate enhanced symptom recognition and self-care among heart failure patients. This project focuses on the assessment of the impact of such a transitional care program on HF patients' ability to perform symptom recognition and self-care. Methods: Demographic questionnaires were distributed to collect socioeconomic data and clinical characteristics of participants. A pre and post SCHFI survey was completed by participants, and analysis of data performed using a paired t-test. Results: The 15 participants were primarily Hispanic, elderly, and male. The majority of participants reported an annual income less than $10,000, lived in close proximity to the transitional care clinic, reported living with family and/or friends, and had at least one additional comorbidity. There was improvement in self-care maintenance scores following the initial transitional care encounter; however, participants did not achieve self-care adequacy in this domain. Participants also did not achieve self-care adequacy in self-management. Self-confidence scores improved to reach adequacy following the initial transitional care encounter; however, results were not statistically significant. Conclusion: With the complexities of HF self-management, it is not alarming that these patients have continued to struggle with symptom recognition and self-care. Recommendations are made for future research and interventions. |
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