Improving Patient Knowledge of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: Patient-centered and Community-engaged Pilot Study
Yulia Khodneva, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a type of heart failure that is growing among adults with multiple chronic conditions. Diagnosis and treatment of this type of heart failure is complex and patients often have hard time understanding how to manage HFpEF. Patients are not fully made aware of what HFpEF is as a medical condition and the importance of managing their blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, weight and stress in order to decrease symptoms of HFpEF. At the same time HFpEF patients from economically disadvantaged and underserved backgrounds have even more challenges in understanding their health condition.
Health care system also does not have a good grasp of what exactly HFpEF patients need in order to improve their understanding of their health condition and how these gaps in patient knowledge can be addressed. Indepth understanding of specific knowledge gaps among patients with HFpEF is needed in order to create an education and health promotion intervention for HFpEF patients. Given that many patients with HFpEF have competing demands due to multiple health problems, it is essential to elicit their educational preferences regarding HFpEF diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, we propose a study that will include interviews and surveys with HFpEF patients to identify current gaps in knowledge of HFpEF and their preferences for education. We will include equal number of patients from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and from average economic backgrounds and compare results. The second aim of the study will focus on engaging people who work with HFpEF patients in healthcare and in the community into the designing the intervention. As a result of these activities we will draft an education intervention based on HFpEF patients’ needs and preferences. Finally, we will reach back to the patients, study participants, and will ask for their feedback on the drafted intervention materials. In the end of this study we will have a HFpEF patient education intervention that uses input from both patients and people who provide care for them. The intervention will be ready to be tested in a larger study.
