Helping heart failure patients improve self-care

A recent qualitative study from the University of Groningen Medical Center (in The Netherlands) looked for reasons for and barriers to compliance with the self-care plan. Their conclusions: “To improve compliance in HF [heart failure] patients, patient-tailored interventions must be targeted at specific problems and patients’ beliefs regarding the regimen, and aim at implementing the regimen into daily life. Healthcare providers need to emphasize the benefits of compliance, motivate patients to comply, and focus on individual barriers to compliance, knowledge deficits, and misunderstandings regarding the regimen.”

You have heard this here before: assess the learner’s needs, and individualize teaching to the learner. The two levels of teaching are (1) communicating content and (2) helping the learner apply that new information to his or her life. “Addressing knowledge deficits” and “correcting misunderstandings” refer to teaching content. “Motivating patients to comply” and “focusing on individual barriers to compliance” refer to health coaching skills. Studies from all over the world continually come up with these results, but still, we hesitate. Involve and individualize. It sounds too simple. Too easy.

Or it sounds like it takes too much time. But how much time and money are we spending — and wasting — on ineffective teaching methods and tools? How much time can we save by just finding out what THIS patient needs, and providing it? Papers don’t teach. Computers don’t teach. People teach. (Papers and computers support and reinforce teaching.) Get back in touch with the reason you went into health care — to connect with people, and help them. Have that conversation with a patient today.

Reference: van der Wal, M. H., Jaarsma, T., Moser, D. K., van Gilst, W. H., & van Veldhuisen, D. J. (2010). Qualitative examination of compliance in heart failure patients in The Netherlands. Heart Lung, 39(2), 121-130.

Don’t know how to do this? Don’t know where to start? Read No Time to Teach: The Essence of Patient and Family Education for Health Care Providers. In about 200 pages this book presents the latest evidence and proven, practical advice on how to most effectively and efficiently teach your patients.