Uptake of Self-Management Strategies in a Heart Failure Management Programme

Abstract

At 12 months of follow-up, implementation of self-management strategies including daily weight monitoring and level of education on self-management was significantly higher in the management group than the control group. For the patients in the management group, not using the diary or inability to perform daily weighing were associated with less frequent attendance at the heart failure clinic and education sessions and poorer health outcomes. In this study, attendance at the education sessions was associated with the adoption of self-management, underlining the importance of education in multidisciplinary heart failure programmes. Self-weighing could be increased by provision of scales to all patients. The subset of patients who did not adopt self-management strategies in this study were at high risk of death or readmission.