Self-care Barriers Reported by Emergency Department Patients With Acute Heart Failure: A Sociotechnical Systems-Based...

Area of Science:

• Sociotechnical systems theory
• Health services research
• Patient self-care

Background:

• Acute heart failure (AHF) poses significant challenges for patients, often exacerbated by self-care barriers.
• Understanding these barriers is crucial for developing effective interventions and improving patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot test a sociotechnical systems-based instrument for assessing self-care barriers in emergency department (ED) patients with AHF.
• To evaluate the feasibility of implementing this instrument in an ED setting.

Main Methods:

• A semistructured instrument was developed and administered to 31 ED patients diagnosed with AHF.
• Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis.
• Feasibility was assessed through participant cooperation, completion times, item nonresponse, and data yield.

Main Results:

• Patients reported a median of 15 self-care barriers out of 47 assessed.
• Barriers originated from patient characteristics, self-care tasks, technology, and various contexts (organizational, social, physical).
• The instrument demonstrated preliminary feasibility with good cooperation and data yield, though administration time could be optimized.

Conclusions:

• A sociotechnical systems-based instrument for measuring self-care barriers is feasible for ED implementation.
• Further research is needed to refine the instrument for broader use and diverse settings.
• Measuring self-care barriers is a key component of understanding health-related work in patient care systems.