Acceptability and Usefulness of a Dyadic Problem-Solving Partnership to Promote Rural Heart Failure Self-care.

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Public Health
• Gerontology

Background:

• Heart failure (HF) disproportionately affects rural populations, leading to poorer health outcomes.
• Existing research lacks innovative studies on self-care partnership programs for rural HF dyads.
• Dyadic collaboration is effective for managing heart-related issues, yet support for rural dyads is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the acceptability and usefulness of a telephone problem-solving intervention for rural heart failure (HF) dyads.
• To explore self-care areas, process outcomes, and patterns related to program acceptability and usefulness.
• To address challenges faced by rural HF dyads in managing daily symptoms and self-care.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative descriptive study involving 29 heart failure (HF) dyads.
• Data collected through individual semi-structured telephone interviews.
• Analysis focused on a 5-week midpoint of a 12-week study, using adjusted matrix and multiple correspondence analyses.

Main Results:

• The telephone problem-solving program was highly acceptable to most dyads.
• Dyads primarily focused on self-care maintenance (diet, exercise) and symptom self-monitoring.
• A gender pattern difference was observed in addressing self-care maintenance issues.

Conclusions:

• The study addresses a critical gap in understanding collaborative self-care and empowerment for rural HF dyads.
• Findings underscore the need for longitudinal research on gender's influence on rural dyadic self-care.
• The program demonstrated potential for supporting rural heart failure management through dyadic collaboration.