Why the study?
To explore people's experiences of living with heart failure, their understanding of self-management, and difficulties faced when making lifestyle changes amid high-salt food preferences and a subtropical climate.
This study highlights the need to culturally adapt standard Western heart failure guidelines for salt and fluid restrictions to account for regional food preferences and tropical climates in South-East Asia.
INTRODUCTION: This study explored people's experiences of living with heart failure and their understanding of self-management and difficulties faced when making lifestyle changes in the context of high-salt food preferences and a subtropical climate. METHODS: This qualitative descriptive study was conducted with 20 Thai individuals with heart failure. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Two overarching themes were: (a) adapting long-established dietary and lifestyle behaviors is challenging in the context of limited knowledge of heart failure, cultural food preparation practices and a subtropical climate and (b) personal values, attitudes, and preferences have primacy over dietary and fluid restrictions. DISCUSSION: In Thailand, strong cultural preferences for high salt, preprepared street foods contribute to repeated admissions for decompensated heart failure. Community-based models of care are urgently needed that support effective chronic heart failure management, with solutions that consider local needs, climate and cultural factors.
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Koontalay et al. (2025) studied this question.
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