Empowering heart failure patients: The role of education in self-management

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a syndrome that occurs with symptoms and signs due to heart dysfunction and results in shortened life expectancy. It is one of the significant health problems affecting approximately 26 million people worldwide and more than 2 million people in our country. Objective: This study was designed to investigate the effect of education on the quality of life (QoL) and chronic disease self-management of patients diagnosed with chronic HF. Materials and method: The study was conducted between January 1, 2023, and April 1, 2023, using 60 patients diagnosed with CHF for at least one year and hospitalized at Tekirdag Namik Kemal University, Cardiology Department, Turkey. During the patients’ hospitalization, their QoL was assessed using the Minnesota living with heart failure questionnaire (MLHFQ) and disease self-management with the chronic disease self-management scale (CDSMS). Patients received nurse-led living with heart failure education (LHFE) at discharge. Patients’ QoL and self-management were re-evaluated using the same scales at their outpatient clinic visit one month later. Results: The mean pre-education MLHFQ score was 64.20 ± 19.42, and the mean post-education MLHFQ score was 44.01 ± 17.65. Participants’ mean CDSMS total score before training was 2.20 ± 0.40, and the mean total score after training was 3.13 ± 0.42. This training was highly effective in improving patients’ self-management and QoL (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Nurse-led LHFE is an important part of nursing care in terms of ensuring patients’ self-management and improving their QoL.