There has been increasing evidence that self-management
programmes for CHF patients have a positive effect on
quality of life and self-care behaviour. Kutzleb and Reiner
(2005) conducted a longitudinal study measuring the
effects that a nurse-directed patient education programme
had on QoL, and found that patient education had positively
affected QoL resulting from patient empowerment
to self-manage particular facets of the condition such as
diet and medication therapy. The team provided patient
education sessions over twelve months, they reported
improved exercise tolerance and ability to maintain independence,
reinforcing the correlation between QoL and
functional capacity. Wright et al (2003) randomized 197
HF patients into 2 groups with the intervention group
(n=100) receiving a diary and education surrounding
heart failure self-management and monitoring of daily
weight and 97 control subjects received normal care. The
intervention group had a lower mortality rate over the
course of the 12 month study together with fewer hospital
admissions, suggesting that self-management strategies
such as weight monitoring were effective. Additionally the
intervention group exhibited higher levels of knowledge
at 12 months follow up. The intervention participants who
did not use the diary or perform daily weighing were also
those with a poorer attendance at the heart failure clinic
and education sessions. This group declined markedly in
their health status over the 12 months in comparison to
the intervention group.