Background:
Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) poses a constant threat to the lives of patients and increases anxiety. Such patients tend to avoid social activities and remain at home. In CHF daycare units patients receive medical treatment once or twice a week. As a result, the patients interact with one another and with time are forced to confront deaths of fellow patients, further increasing their anxieties and avoidance of interactions. The physical, social and emotional difficulties also impact their self-esteem and mood. Medical treatments are designed to improve patients` lives physically. Yet, avoidance, depression and anxiety also severely compromise their quality of life. Hence we have decided to set up a CHF support group.
Intervention aims:
- To enable an adaptation process to the disease.
- To encourage emotional sharing and mutual support by the patients.
- To enhance their knowledge of the disease through a multidisciplinary team.
- To improve interactions between the patients and the medical system.
- To encourage the patients to fulfill achievable goals and maintain hope.
- To achieve improvements in self report measures.
Method:
Groups of men and women (6-10 participants) take part in a serie of eight bi-monthly, 1.5 hour long sessions, led by a nurse and a psychologist. At the outset, questionnaires are distributed measuring the following: medical knowledge, anxiety, depression, quality of life and personal expectations from the group. At the final meeting a repeated measurement is conducted which also includes personal feedback and satisfaction.
Results:
The findings from the first group of 7 patients indicate that the participation increased their medical knowledge, strengthened relationships and trust among them and created a supportive atmosphere. However, some patients reported that despite these improvements they still lack adequate means for coping with the disease`s impact. Further results from another group will be obtained prior to the conference.
