Effect of educational program on self-care behaviors and health outcome among patients with heart failure

OBJECTIVES: To implement an educational program for patients with heart failure and to assess its effectiveness on self-care behaviors and health outcomes (frequency of hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and deaths). METHODS: A comparative-experimental design was used. A total of 144 participants were randomized into the intervention group (who received individualized education session, self-care manual, and weekly phone calls) and the control group (who received usual care). RESULTS: After 3 months of follow-up, there was a significant difference in the self-care maintenance (P < 0.001), self-care management (P < 0.001), and the frequency of emergency department visits between the two groups (P = 0.028). CONCLUSION: The promising effect of the educational program on patients' health outcomes suggests that incorporating such a program into the standard healthcare is important. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The findings of this study demonstrate that individualized heart failure education, which is supported by follow-up phone calls and self-care manual, is an effective approach to improve patients' adherence to self-care behaviors.