Transitional Care Interventions for Patients with Heart Failure: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is a life-limiting illness and presents as a gradual functional decline with intermittent episodes of acute deterioration and some recovery. In addition, HF often occurs in conjunction with other chronic diseases, resulting in complex comorbidities. Hospital readmissions for HF, including emergency department (ED) visits, are considered preventable. Majority of the patients with HF are often discharged early in the recovery period with inadequate self-care instructions. To address these issues, transitional care interventions have been implemented with the common objective of reducing the rate of hospital readmission, including ED visits. However, there is a lack of evidence regarding the benefits and adverse effects of transitional care interventions on clinical outcomes and patient-related outcomes of patients with HF. This integrative review aims to identify the components of transitional care interventions and the effectiveness of these interventions in improving health outcomes of patients with HF. Five databases were searched from

Effectiveness of Nurse-Led Heart Failure Self-Care Education on Health Outcomes of Heart Failure Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Patients aged 65 years or older have been reported to account for 80% and 90% of heart failure-related hospitalizations and deaths, respectively [4]. Despite advances in early diagnosis and treatment of heart failure, its progressive and debilitating characteristics [5] result in substantial morbidity and a high burden of long-term management, which negatively affects patients, families, and health systems [1,4,6]. According to previous studies, heart failure patients' 30-day hospital readmission rate was about 20-30%, with up to 15% mortality after hospital discharge [7,8].…”

Effects of a Transitional Telehealth Program on Functional Status, Rehospitalization, and Satisfaction With Care in Thai Patients with Heart Failure

“…21,22 Transitional care managed by a multidisciplinary team focused on discharge planning and home follow-up has been shown to improve knowledge, health behaviors, and care quality. 23 Additionally, transitional care with telehealth interventions could further improve patient outcomes. 2,10,15 However, these aspects are yet to be assessed in a Thai sample.…”

Clinical value of pulmonary congestion detection by lung ultrasound in patients with chronic heart failure

“…Heart failure resulted in considerable and growing economic burden on the health care systems 3 . Mortality of patients with acute myocardial infarction and myocarditis is significantly reduced due to effective therapy options during the last decade 4,5 . However, survived patients with residual myocardial injury might gradually develop CHF and contribute to the increased prevalence of CHF.…”

“…Population aging serves as another important reason for the increased prevalence of CHF. Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment of CHF, the 5 years mortality of CHF remained as high as around 50% 4 . Given the irreversible nature of heart failure, it is of importance to take additional efforts to reduce the adverse impact of CHF on health care system and to improve the quality of life and outcome of CHF patients 6 …”