Examining Heart Failure Informal Care Partners Using Person and System Levels and Domains: A Meta-Synthesis.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Caregiver Science
• Qualitative Synthesis

Background:

• System and policy changes have shifted heart failure (HF) care from hospital to home.
• This necessitates increased support for informal care partners.
• The current state of care partner science across person and system levels remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify existing knowledge on informal care partners across person and system levels and domains.
• To pinpoint gaps in caregiving science.
• To propose future research directions.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of a large HF systematic review.
• Utilized meta-synthesis techniques with a critical realist approach.
• Guided by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and MIRACLE frameworks.

Main Results:

• Synthesized data from 46 papers involving 1695 care partners.
• Identified patterns across biological, behavioral, affective, physical/built environment, sociocultural, and healthcare system domains.
• Found predominant research in affective and behavioral domains, with significant gaps in biological, physical/built environment, and community/societal levels.

Conclusions:

• Current research on HF caregiving is at a foundational stage.
• Critical knowledge gaps exist in the physical/built environment, community, and societal levels of caregiving.
• Further research is needed to address these understudied domains and levels.