Prehospitalization Symptom Perceptions, Lay Consultations, and Treatment-Seeking for Acute Decompensating Heart Failure: Implications for Nursing Practice.

Heart failure is a common, serious condition associated with frequent exacerbations and hospitalizations. Preventable causes of more than 70% of heart failure hospitalizations are attributable to ineffective heart failure self-care, including symptom recognition and interpretation, and delayed symptom reporting and treatment seeking. The social context in which illness symptoms occur is an important aspect of symptom self-management.

Lay Consultations in Heart Failure Symptom Evaluation.

Purpose: Lay consultations can facilitate or impede healthcare. However, little is known about how lay consultations for symptom evaluation affect treatment decision-making. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of lay consultations in symptom evaluation prior to hospitalization among patients with heart failure.

Multidisciplinary group clinic appointments: the Self-Management and Care of Heart Failure (SMAC-HF) trial.

Background: This trial tested the effects of multidisciplinary group clinic appointments on the primary outcome of time to first heart failure (HF) rehospitalization or death.

Methods And Results: HF patients (n=198) were randomly assigned to standard care or standard care plus multidisciplinary group clinics. The group intervention consisted of 4 weekly clinic appointments and 1 booster clinic at month 6, where multidisciplinary professionals engaged patients in HF self-management skills.

Symptom perceptions and self-care behaviors in patients who self-manage heart failure.

Background: Patients with heart failure (HF) are at heightened risk for acute exacerbation requiring hospitalization. Although timely reporting of symptoms can expedite outpatient treatment and avoid the need for hospitalization, few patients recognize and respond to symptoms until acutely ill.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore patients' perceptions of symptoms and self-care behaviors for symptom relief, leading up to a HF hospitalization.