A dyadic perspective on disease coping experiences and support needs in chronic heart failure patients and informal caregivers: a qualitative meta-synthesis

Objectives To systematically evaluate the experiences of chronic heart failure patients and their informal caregivers in jointly managing the disease, clarify their support needs, and provide evidence for developing targeted interventions. Design A qualitative meta-synthesis. Methods We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP for qualitative studies examining the dyadic coping experiences of patients with chronic heart failure and their caregivers. The quality of the literature was evaluated according to the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research, and the included literature was integrated and analyzed using the pooled integration approach. Results A total of 16 studies were included. 55 findings were aggregated into 13 categories and further synthesized into 4 overarching themes: divergent perspectives on illness and care; psychosocial resource depletion; disruptions in family intimacy; and the need for multidimensional support to reconstruct personal meaning. Conclusions Healthcare professionals should pay close attention to differences in thinking, the degree of depletion of psychological resources, the tension in family intimacy, and supportive needs during the dyadic coping process between patients with chronic heart failure and their caregivers. Based on this, individualized interventions can be developed, leveraging digital technologies and platforms to enrich intervention formats and content, thereby enhancing collaborative disease management between both parties. Systematic Review Registration https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420251243342 , CRD 420251243342.