Posttraumatic growth theory as a framework for heart failure self-care intervention design

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cardiovascular Health
• Health Behavior

Background:

• Heart failure (HF) presents significant psychological challenges for patients managing a chronic illness.
• Existing positive psychological approaches in cardiovascular care are limited, with growth-oriented frameworks underexplored.
• Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) theory offers a novel lens for understanding adaptation to life-altering illnesses like HF.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce PTG theory as a framework for understanding psychological adaptation and adherence in HF self-care.
• Propose new pathways linking growth-oriented processes to sustained adherence in HF patients.
• Inform the development of PTG-informed interventions for HF self-care.

Main Methods:

• Applied PTG theory to the context of daily HF self-care demands.
• Utilized two case examples from an early-stage positive psychology program.
• Developed a PTG-informed conceptual model, CardioWell, based on illustrative cases.

Main Results:

• Illustrative cases demonstrated processes aligned with all five PTG domains (personal strength, spiritual/existential change, improved relationships, life appreciation, new possibilities).
• These growth-oriented processes show potential for supporting coping with ongoing HF self-care demands.
• Identified psychologically meaningful targets for interventions and conceptual pathways linking PTG to HF self-care.

Conclusions:

• PTG theory provides a novel framework for understanding psychological adaptation in HF self-care.
• The CardioWell model illustrates how growth-oriented psychological processes can be targeted in interventions.
• Proposed pathways require formal evaluation in future research to confirm efficacy.