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HEALTH PROMOTION IN HEART FAILURE: A PILOT STUDY Principal
Investigator: Angela Clark, PhD, RN, FAAN
The purpose of this study is to examine the benefits of a three month home-based education and support health promotion intervention for self-care in elderly people who have a medical diagnosis of heart failure. Outcomes of interest include health status outcomes and self-care outcomes. Specific objectives include: (1) to develop and refine health promotion education and support intervention materials, (2) to evaluate the usefulness of the intervention by examining health and self-care outcomes, (3) to explore subjective perceptions of the health promotion intervention's effectiveness, and (4) to evaluate selected instruments for use in this population. The plan of action consists of two parts. Part I involves development of the intervention materials. Materials and strategies are being developed to improve health promoting behaviors in a variety of areas. Intervention mapping is being used to identify appropriate behavioral outcomes. Content experts will evaluate and refine materials. Part II involves testing the three month intervention with six older adult subjects with heart failure. Subjects will be assisted to develop realistic goals and action plans for areas of health improvement. Nine 45-minute sessions will be conducted with each subject. At the end of the sessions, subjects will be asked to evaluate the intervention's effectiveness and to make suggestions for improvement. Health and self-care outcomes will be measured with pre- and post-tests using a variety of instruments. Results of this study will increase knowledge about the feasibility of health promotion as a framework for self-care in older, chronically ill adults with heart failure. This pilot study will form the basis for a three year randomized intervention study which will be proposed to NIH/NINR. STATUS: Ongoing through 5/2002
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