The Teach-Back method consistently improved knowledge, understanding, self-care, and adherence in adults with cardiovascular disease across 18 included studies.
Does the Teach-Back method improve knowledge, self-care, and clinical outcomes in adults with cardiovascular disease?
The Teach-Back method is a low-resource communication strategy that consistently improves knowledge, understanding, self-care, and adherence in adults with cardiovascular disease.
Background: Teach-Back is a structured communication strategy increasingly used in patient education to enhance understanding and self-management, particularly among people with complex chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease. Aim: To explore and map how Teach-Back has been applied in adults with cardiovascular disease and to describe outcomes assessed in the literature. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following the JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis and the PRISMA-ScR checklist. MEDLINE/PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched up to January 2026. Studies involving adult patients with cardiovascular disease receiving Teach-Back–based interventions were included. Data were charted and synthesized descriptively, focusing on intervention characteristics, delivery contexts, and reported outcomes. Results: Eighteen studies were included, with heart failure being the most frequently investigated condition. Teach-Back was delivered across hospital, outpatient, and home-care settings, often as part of multicomponent educational or transitional-care interventions. Outcomes were grouped into five domains: knowledge and understanding, self-care and adherence, clinical outcomes, healthcare utilization, and patient-reported outcomes. Improvements were most consistently reported for knowledge, understanding, self-care, and adherence, whereas findings on readmissions and other clinical outcomes were less homogenous. Conclusions: Teach-Back appears particularly relevant for cardiovascular nursing practice at points of high-risk communication, including discharge, early post-discharge follow-up, and self-management reinforcement. As a low-resource strategy, it may support nurses in verifying patient understanding and reducing misinterpretation during care transitions. Future studies should standardize delivery, training, fidelity monitoring, documentation, and outcome measurement.
Rosa et al. (Mon,) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease (n=18). Teach-Back method was evaluated on Knowledge, understanding, self-care, adherence, clinical outcomes, healthcare utilization, and patient-reported outcomes. The Teach-Back method consistently improved knowledge, understanding, self-care, and adherence in adults with cardiovascular disease across 18 included studies.