Staying on course: the effects of an adherence facilitation intervention on home exercise participation

The purpose of this investigation was to test the effectiveness of an adherence facilitation intervention consisting of goal setting, graphic feedback, and provider guidance to support adherence to home exercise in a sample of patients with heart failure who had completed a supervised exercise program. The sample consisted of 13 patients with an ejection fraction of 40% or less who were randomly assigned to either the exercise only group (n=6) or the exercise with adherence facilitation group (n=7). The format of the intervention was graphic depiction of each patient's exercise goals in comparison to each patient's exercise participation. Graphs were mailed at 3-week intervals for 12 weeks. Results indicate that patients who received the intervention demonstrated higher exercise adherence and greater confidence in continuing to exercise in the future. The adherence facilitation intervention may be helpful to heart failure patients in adapting to a program of home exercise. (c)2002 CHF, Inc.