Purpose: Several literature reviews have been published summarizing objective
knowledge about older patients with heart failure (HF). Although of vital
importance to the treatment and diagnosis of HF, these reviews fail to explicate
and summarize older patients’ subjective and lived experience of the condition,
which restrains us from providing a complete picture of the illness trajectory.
The purpose of this integrative review was to explore and summarize the current
literature examining self-reported symptoms, illness experience, and selfcare
management in older patients with HF.