The Teach-back method consistently improved heart failure knowledge across studies, but its effects on hospital readmissions and self-care behaviors were mixed.
Does the teach-back method of patient education improve outcomes such as readmissions, knowledge, and self-care in patients and families with heart failure?
While the teach-back method improves heart failure knowledge, its impact on hospital readmissions and self-care remains mixed, highlighting the need for standardized, high-quality clinical trials.
BACKGROUND: Heart failure (HF) prevalence has risen for more than a decade. Effective patient and family education strategies for HF are needed on a global scale. One widely used method of education is the teach-back method, where learners are provided information, then their understanding assessed by "teaching it back" to the educator. PURPOSE: This state-of-the-art review article seeks to examine the evidence focusing on the teach-back method of patient education and patient outcomes. Specifically, this article describes (1) the teach-back process, (2) teach-back's effect on patient outcomes, (3) teach-back in the context of family care partners, and (4) recommendations for future research and practice. CONCLUSIONS: Study investigators report the use of teach-back, but few describe how teach-back was utilized. Study designs vary widely, with few having a comparison group, making conclusions across studies challenging. The effect of teach-back on patient outcomes is mixed. Some studies showed fewer HF readmissions after education using teach-back, but different times of measurement obscure understanding of longitudinal effects. Heart failure knowledge improved across most studies after teach-back interventions; however, results related to HF self-care were mixed. Despite family care partner involvement in several studies, how they were included in teach-back or the associated effects are unclear. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Future clinical trials that evaluate the effect of teach-back education on patient outcomes, such as short- and long-term readmission rates, biomarkers, and psychological measures, are needed, as patient education is the foundation for self-care and health-related behaviors.
Howie‐Esquivel et al. (Tue,) conducted a review in Heart failure. Teach-back method vs. Standard education or no Teach-back was evaluated on Heart failure readmissions, knowledge, and self-care. The Teach-back method consistently improved heart failure knowledge across studies, but its effects on hospital readmissions and self-care behaviors were mixed.