Management of Patients With HF by Using Educational or Educational & Telephone or Telephone Interventions and Support in Cyprus

The Effectiveness of Multiple Nursing Interventions, for Promoting Heart Failure Self-care, on Patients' Quality of Life and Heart Failure Outcomes: A Randomized Control Trial.

The current trial aims to examine the effectiveness of three different types of nursing interventions, on heart failure (HF) patients' quality of life and on HF outcomes, compared to the usual care. The interventions include promotion of self-care practices through education and support; they are either provided before discharge, post-discharge through telephone, or both.

The current trial aims to examine the effectiveness of three different types of nursing interventions, on heart failure (HF) patients' quality of life and on HF outcomes, compared to the usual care. The interventions include promotion of self-care practices through education and support. HF patients admitted in the public hospitals of the Cyprus Republic are screened for eligibility. Consented patients who meet the inclusion criteria are recruited before their discharge, and are randomly allocated to one of the four groups of the trial. Patients of the three intervention groups receive educational intervention and support, before discharge or post-discharge through telephone, or both. Patients of the fourth group receive the usual care (control group). The patients' follow up period is 3 months. The main purpose of the study is to determine whether the combination of predischarge education/support and tele-management is more efficient in improving HF outcomes, rather than the in-person and telephonic components alone. Outcome measures include quality of life and HF events (re-admissions and death) and time to HF event.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Hospitalized adult patients with evidenced HF
• Planned for discharge
• NYHA class I-IV
• Greek speaking
• Able and willing to give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe mental illness or severly impaired cognitive function
• Patients that are to be transferred to nursing or rehabilitation homes
• Patients unable to be contacted via telephone
• Patients with active cancer
• Patients on dialysis
• Patients scheduled for surgery
• Patients recently undergone surgery (up to 3 months)
• Patients with less than 3 months life expectancy (end-stage)
• Patients with chronic degenerative diseases