Background: It is estimated that 5.7 million Americans are living with heart failure (HF) today. Despite the fact that HF is one of the most common reasons people aged 65 years and older are admitted into the hospital, few studies describe the self-care in this older adult population. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to review the current literature on self-care in this population to better understand the influence of selected factors on self-care and health outcomes. Methods: A literature search was completed and resulted in including 28 studies. Results: Multiple factors have been reported as barriers to self-care including depression and presence of peripheral arterial disease. Factors having a positive effect on self-care are male gender, number of cardiologist referrals, and self-efficacy. There were few studies that described the association between cognitive functioning and self-care. There is a lack of strong evidence to support the association between self-care and health outcomes such as readmission rate, but recent studies suggest that a 30-day readmission is not a valid predictor of health outcomes. Implications: The assessment of the psychological factors and health care resource utilization patterns that may influence self-care is recommended. More research that addresses the role of cognitive factors in influencing self-care is needed.

Nurse practitioners can support better health outcomes in older adults with hypertension by using valid and reliable measures for assessing complex cognitive skills, assessing individuals' progress in self-care production, and identifying individuals' use of social and professional supports to produce self-care.

Home blood pressure (BP) telemonitoring allows patients to take their BP, store the data, and then transmit data by phone to a healthcare provider. Research to date shows that home BP telemonitoring is accurate and helps patients gain control over their blood pressure. When used regularly, home BP telemonitoring can improve control and help reduce health problems associated with hypertension.

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Few studies have considered cognitive performance in older adults when assessing dietary intake with self-report measures. This pilot study used a small sample (N = 50) of predominantly African American older adults in a geriatric primary care center to better understand the role that cognition may play in obtaining an accurate assessment of dietary intake based on self-report. combined with a Picture-Sort method) were used to compare the differences in self-report measurement of selected nutrients with two biochemical markers of nutritional status (total cholesterol, serum carotenoids) among participants grouped by levels of cognitive function. Two commonly used cognitive assessment tools (MMSE 11-SV, MiniCog) were found to identify dietary intake risk when cognitive function may be limited. Although the differences in dietary self-report measures and biochemical marker measures were not found to be related to cognitive function, the authors consider explanations to stimulate further research on this challenging topic.