Assessing Knowledge Regarding Managing Congestive Health Failure Symptoms: Differences in Patient and Professional...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Health Coaching
• Telehealth

Background:

• Congestive heart failure (CHF) management requires significant patient self-care.
• Patient's accurate perception of their knowledge is crucial for effective chronic disease management.
• Telehealth interventions offer a scalable approach to patient education and support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate agreement between patients with CHF and their health coaches regarding patient knowledge of health-enhancing practices.
• To assess the impact of ongoing telehealth coaching on patient self-reported knowledge and coach-reported patient understanding.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involved 40 patients with CHF receiving telehealth coaching via a HIPAA-compliant tablet.
• The Member Confidence Measure assessed patient and coach ratings of patient knowledge at baseline, 30, and 180 days.
• Intervention focused on educational content to improve patient self-care for CHF.

Main Results:

• Patients consistently reported higher perceived knowledge than coaches at all time points (P < .01 at baseline).
• Patient knowledge scores increased over 180 days, while coach scores plateaued after an initial increase at 30 days.
• Patient and coach perceptions of patient knowledge did not converge during the intervention period.

Conclusions:

• Patients with CHF tend to overestimate their understanding of self-care practices, even after telehealth coaching.
• Telehealth coaching can enhance and sustain patient knowledge of chronic disease management.
• Addressing patient misperceptions of knowledge is vital; ongoing monitoring may be necessary to ensure sustained benefits of coaching.