What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Other. Population: Heart failure (n=23). Intervention: Digital tools (Internet resources, social media, smartphone Apps). Primary outcome: Patient and clinician perspectives of digital tool use and factors facilitating or obstructing use.

What does this research mean for the field?

Heart failure patients frequently experience anxiety and disengage from digital health tools, while clinician recommendations for these tools are limited by assumptions about patient capabilities and a lack of clear guidelines. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine patient and clinician perspectives regarding digital tool use in heart failure and identify factors influencing their adoption or avoidance.

September 15, 2026European Heart Journal - Digital HealthOpen Access

Patient and clinician perspectives on digital tools in heart failure: results in three London hospital networks (Qual-HF)

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Why the study?

Data were limited regarding the experiences and perspectives of patients and clinicians on using digital tools in heart failure.

Population

14 people living with HF and 9 clinicians working as HF specialists

Design

Mixed-methods study using semi-structured interviews

Key result

Semi-structured interviews of 14 patients and 9 clinicians revealed that heart failure patients often fear online information, while clinician recommendations are limited by a lack of guidance.

Authors

KMK McBeath JRJ P Riley MCMartín Cowie

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Clinicians should assess digital literacy and offer guided resources; leaves open development of evidence-based guidelines for heart failure digital tools.

Key Points

To examine patient and clinician perspectives regarding digital tool use in heart failure and identify factors influencing their adoption or avoidance.
Mixed-methods study conducting semi-structured interviews across three London hospital networks.
Included 14 individuals diagnosed with heart failure and 9 heart failure specialist clinicians.
Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Three key themes emerged: the dual nature of information, the recommendation gap, and self-care as a time-dependent behaviour.
Patients frequently experienced fear and anxiety regarding digital information, often disengaging from digital tools as self-preservation due to low digital health literacy and activation.
Clinicians rarely recommended digital tools due to assumptions regarding patient digital capability, absence of evidence-based guidelines, and lack of institutional consensus.

Structured PICO

Population

23 participants, comprising 14 patients living with heart failure and 9 heart failure specialist clinicians, underwent semi-structured interviews.

Exposure

Digital tools (Internet resources, social media, and smartphone Apps)

Outcome

Patient and clinician perspectives of digital tool use and factors that facilitate or obstruct such usepatient reported

Patients with heart failure often experience anxiety regarding online health information, highlighting the need for clinicians to provide 'information prescriptions' and routine assessment of digital capability.

Cite This Study

McBeath et al. (2026) studied Heart failure (n=23). Digital tools (Internet resources, social media, smartphone Apps) was evaluated on Patient and clinician perspectives of digital tool use and factors facilitating or obstructing use. Semi-structured interviews of 14 patients and 9 clinicians revealed that heart failure patients often fear online information, while clinician recommendations are limited by a lack of guidance.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa9017deed42882c1fc1950 https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjdh/ztag146

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September 15, 2026European Heart Journal - Digital HealthOpen Access

Patient and clinician perspectives on digital tools in heart failure: results in three London hospital networks (Qual-HF)

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Why the study?

Data were limited regarding the experiences and perspectives of patients and clinicians on using digital tools in heart failure.

Population

14 people living with HF and 9 clinicians working as HF specialists

Design

Mixed-methods study using semi-structured interviews

Key result

Semi-structured interviews of 14 patients and 9 clinicians revealed that heart failure patients often fear online information, while clinician recommendations are limited by a lack of guidance.

Authors

KMK McBeath JRJ P Riley MCMartín Cowie

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Clinicians should assess digital literacy and offer guided resources; leaves open development of evidence-based guidelines for heart failure digital tools.

Key Points

To examine patient and clinician perspectives regarding digital tool use in heart failure and identify factors influencing their adoption or avoidance.
Mixed-methods study conducting semi-structured interviews across three London hospital networks.
Included 14 individuals diagnosed with heart failure and 9 heart failure specialist clinicians.
Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Three key themes emerged: the dual nature of information, the recommendation gap, and self-care as a time-dependent behaviour.
Patients frequently experienced fear and anxiety regarding digital information, often disengaging from digital tools as self-preservation due to low digital health literacy and activation.
Clinicians rarely recommended digital tools due to assumptions regarding patient digital capability, absence of evidence-based guidelines, and lack of institutional consensus.

Structured PICO

Population

23 participants, comprising 14 patients living with heart failure and 9 heart failure specialist clinicians, underwent semi-structured interviews.

Exposure

Digital tools (Internet resources, social media, and smartphone Apps)

Outcome

Patient and clinician perspectives of digital tool use and factors that facilitate or obstruct such usepatient reported

Cite This Study

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aa9017deed42882c1fc1950 https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjdh/ztag146

View Full Paper

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