EFFECTIVENESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY EDUCATIVE-SUPPORTIVE PROGRAM ON SELF-CARE BEHAVIORS AND SYMPTOM BURDEN AMONG PERSONS WITH HEART FAILURE

Abstract

The rising prevalence of heart failure is a global and Thai public health problem. Providing specific knowledge along with building skills with family member to support people with heart failure is recommended as one of strategies to improve self-care behaviors and reduce symptom burden. The purpose of this quasi-experimental design was to examine effectiveness of the individual and family educative-supportive program for persons with heart failure. Forty six persons with heart failure and their family members were recruited between November 2021 and August 2022. They were randomly assigned to either the experimental (n = 23) or control group (n = 23) based on week of admission. The experimental group received usual care plus the program, which consisted of five sessions over three weeks, while the control group only received usual care. The research instruments included the demographic data form, the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index-Thai Version 7.2, the Modified Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Heart Failure Thai version, and the individual and family educative-supportive program. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the Self-Care of Heart Failure Index-Thai Version 7.2 and the Modified Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Heart Failure Thai version was .83 and .86, respectively. The outcomes of the program were evaluated three times, at baseline (week 1), immediate post-intervention (week 3), and one-month follow-up (week 7). An independent t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance were used in the data analysis. According to the finding, the mean scores of self-care behaviors and symptom burden were statistically significant differences in the interaction effects (time*group). The participants in the experimental group had better self-care behaviors than those in the control group at immediate post-intervention and one-month follow-up (F1,44 = 109.652, p ˂ .001, F1,44 = 130.609, p ˂ .001, respectively). While the participants in the experimental group had lower symptom burden than those in the control group at immediate post-intervention and one-month follow-up (F1,44 = 8.931, p < .05, F1,44 = 5.776, p ˂ .05, respectively). Within the experimental group had significantly higher mean scores of self-care behaviors at immediate post-intervention and one-month follow-up than at baseline. However, symptom burden within the experimental group had significantly reduced over the three-time points. This program has shown a statistically significant increase in self-care behaviors and reduce in symptom burden over time. Therefore, it is recommended that specific knowledge and family focus intervention should be integrated into nursing practice in the medical wards. Long-term studies should be carried out to test the sustainability of the findings.

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