Differences and changes: a qualitative study of concerns about self-care among heart failure patients hospitalized for the first time and their multidisciplinary providers

Background Patient-centred multidisciplinary teams must facilitate self-care while addressing the patient’s concerns. Because the concerns of heart failure patients admitted to the hospital for the first time do not always coincide with the principles of self-care for heart failure, providers need to carefully understand their patients’ particular concerns. However, little research has been conducted on the specific concerns of such patients and their providers. Purpose This study sought to clarify the concerns of patients with first-time heart failure and their multidisciplinary team of providers during first-time hospitalization and at the first outpatient visit. Methods Individual and focus group interviews about self-care for heart failure were conducted with 10 patients hospitalized with heart failure for the first time and their multidisciplinary team of providers (eight physicians, nine nurses, seven physical therapists, two pharmacists, and two dieticians). Patients were interviewed during hospitalization and at the first outpatient visit, while the healthcare providers were interviewed either during hospitalization or at the first outpatient visit. Mayring's qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interviews. Results The analysis identified eight themes. Those extracted from interviews with patients were ‘meaning of symptoms experienced’, ‘continuation of daily life before hospitalization’, ‘healthy living’, and ‘relapse of painful symptoms’. Meanwhile, those extracted from interviews with healthcare providers were ‘improving clinical heart failure status’, ‘health literacy for heart failure self-care’, and ‘post-discharge environment for continued self-care’. The theme ‘self-care to prevent heart failure from worsening’ was extracted from patients and providers. ‘Self-care to prevent heart failure from worsening’ was also more frequently reported during the initial outpatient discharge than during inpatient hospitalization. Conclusion This study revealed that the concerns of patients hospitalized with heart failure for the first time generally differ from those of the healthcare providers comprising their multidisciplinary treatment team. Furthermore, the findings showed that patients were more interested in self-care for heart failure during their first outpatient visit than their hospital stay. Ultimately, the study highlights that healthcare providers working in multidisciplinary teams to support first-time inpatients with heart failure should understand patient concerns, which notably include but are not limited to self-care, and work to support their patients’ self-care by remaining attentive and responsive to their patients’ changing concerns, placing them at the centre of treatment.