Evaluation of health-related outcomes following a self-management program for older people with heart failure

Background. Heart failure (HF) which is a chronic, disabling disorder is mainly found in older people and is one of the leading causes of hospitalisation and readmission around the world. Unfortunately, the mortality and morbidity rates for HF remain high. HF is a complex combination of symptoms which are related to an inadequate perfusion of the body tissues caused by fluid and sodium retention. Hence, enhancing HF patients’ self-efficacy to change their behaviours to perform fluid & sodium control is one of the most important issues for the management of HF. A self-management program has the potential to raise self-efficacy and self-care which is a method to improve health for those with chronic illness and to decrease patients’ health service utilisation and also to enhance these patients’ health status. Aim. The study aims to examine the effectiveness of a self-management program, based on self-efficacy theory, in older people with heart failure in Taiwan. Methods. An experimental design was used to examine the effectiveness of a self-management program on diet and fluid control among HF patients. A total of 93 subjects from two medical centres in Taiwan were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. In order to examine the effectiveness of self-management, data were collected at baseline, week 4, and week 12 using the following instruments: self-efficacy for salt and fluid control, HF self-management behaviour, HF related symptoms, and body weight. Moreover, health service utilisation and patient’s evaluation of care received were collected on all patients for the 12 weeks prior to commencing the study and for the 12 week study period. Demographic and disease information was also collected including age, gender, marital state, education, and New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional classification. A structured, individualized self-management training program created by the investigator was implemented for the intervention group through home visits and telephone follow-ups. This program emphasized self-monitoring of diet control and body weight for the self-management of heart failure. The purpose was to improve patients’ self-efficacy in their diet control behaviour. The “diet control” in this study focussed on sodium and fluid restriction. Outcome measures were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 15.0 version, and the level of significance (a) was set at 0.05 for statistical analysis. Results. There were differences for older Taiwanese HF patients’ self-efficacy for salt and fluid control, self-management behaviour, and HF related symptoms for participants who received a self-management intervention compared to those who did not. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in weight and health serves utilization (p>.001). Conclusion. The self-management program had a positive impact on the improvement of self-efficacy for salt and fluid control, HF related self-management behaviours and symptoms in older Taiwanese with HF. This program may bridge the gap between theory and practice. Health care providers need to provide older people in Taiwan with HF the appropriate skills for self-managing their condition and thereby promoting their health status. These patients with HF and their caregivers have to receive individualized education that emphasizes self-efficacy in the self-management of their disease, thus improving their quality of life.