Optimising quality of life for people living with heart failure in care homes: Protocol for the co-design and feasibility testing of a digital intervention

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 18; no. 7; p. e0288433
• Main Authors: McMahon, James, Brown Wilson, Christine, Hill, Loreena, Tierney, Paul, Thompson, David R, Cameron, Jan, Yu, Doris, Moser, Debra K, Spilsbury, Karen, Srisuk, Nittaya, Schols, Jos M G A, van der Velden, Mariëlle, Mitchell, Gary
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 11-07-2023
• Subjects: Care and treatment; Clinical trials; Co-design; Comparative analysis; Congestive heart failure; COVID-19; Critical Care; Diagnosis; Education; Educational Status; Effectiveness; Feasibility; Feasibility Studies; Health aspects; Heart failure; Heart Failure - therapy; Hospitals; Humans; Intervention; Knowledge; Medicine and Health Sciences; Nursing care; Nursing home patients; Nursing homes; Older people; Optimization; Patient outcomes; Patients; People and Places; Qualitative research; Quality of Life; Registered nurses; Research and Analysis Methods; Review Literature as Topic; Study Protocol; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; Northern Ireland
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288433

Heart failure (HF) affects up to 64.3 million people globally. Advancements in pharmaceutical, device or surgical therapies, have led to patients living longer with HF. Heart failure affects 20% of care home residents, with these individuals presenting as older, frailer, and with more complex needs compared to those living at home. Thus, improving care home staff (e.g., registered nurse and care assistant) knowledge of HF has the potential to benefit patient care and reduce acute care utilization. Our aim is to co-design, and feasibility test, a digital intervention to improve care home staff knowledge of HF and optimise quality of life for those living with the condition in long-term residential care.
Using a logic model, three workstreams have been identified. Workstream 1 (WS1), comprised of three steps, will inform the 'inputs' of the model. First, qualitative interviews (n = 20) will be conducted with care home staff to identify facilitators and barriers in the provision of care to people with HF. Concurrently, a scoping review will be undertaken to synthesise current evidence of HF interventions within care homes. The last step will involve a Delphi study with 50-70 key stakeholders (for example care home staff, people with HF and their family and friends) to determine key education priorities related to HF. Using data from WS1, a digital intervention to improve care home staff knowledge and self-efficacy of HF will be co-designed in workstream 2 (WS2) alongside those living with HF or their carers, HF professionals, and care home staff. Lastly, workstream 3 (WS3) will involve mixed-methods feasibility testing of the digital intervention. Outcomes include staff knowledge on HF and self-efficacy in caring for HF residents, intervention usability, perceived benefits of the digital intervention on quality of life for care home residents, and care staff experience of implementing the intervention.
As HF affects many care home residents, it is vital that care home staff are equipped to support people living with HF in these settings. With limited interventional research in this area, it is envisaged that the resulting digital intervention will have relevance for HF resident care both nationally and internationally.