Effects of a family support program on self‑care behaviors in patients with congestive heart failure

Abstract

Background: Heart failure is one of the chronic heart diseases and a debilitating condition of increased prevalence in the elderly. One of the important and non‑pharmacological strategies for improving clinical outcomes in these patients is promotion of the self‑care. Background and social environment in which a patient is trying to control his disease is an important factor in the self‑care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of family support intervention on the self‑care behaviors in patients with heart failure.

Materials and Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial conducted in university hospitals in Isfahan, Iran, in 2012. A total of 62 patients with heart failure were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 32) and control (n = 32) groups. Supportive intervention including three educational sessions with the delivery of educational booklet and follow‑up by telephone was performed for caregivers of patients in the experimental group. Data were collected using the questionnaire of self‑care behaviors, which was completed before and 1 month after the intervention in both the groups, and the questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent and paired t‑tests.

Results: The results indicate that after the intervention, self‑care behavior scores in the experimental group and control group were 47.2 and 28.4, respectively, and independent t‑test revealed that the difference was statistically significant. Conclusion: Family‑focused supportive interventions can be used as an effective method for improving the self‑care behaviors in patients with heart failure.

Key words: Behavior, family support, heart failure, Iran, self‑care