Heart Failure Case Study

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Heart failure is a major clinical, social and economic problem in the United Kingdom according to the Department of Health [DH] (2013).The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence [NICE] (2010) reported that about 900,000 people suffer from heart failure in the United Kingdom. The National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research [NICOR] (2011) conducted a national audit which found that one in every 20 people over the age of 65 is diagnosed with heart failure which demonstrates that it mainly affects the elderly. As a leading cause of mortality, heart failure contributes to more than 6,000 deaths each year (NICOR, 2011). Newly diagnosed cases of heart failure have a 40% risk of dying within a year (NICOR, 2011). Despite advances in therapy, mortality is still high and only half of patients are alive five years after being diagnosed with heart failure (NICE, 2010).

According to the European Society of Cardiology Guidelines [ESC] (2012) heart failure is diagnosed by symptoms such as dyspnoea, fatigue, either at rest or during exertion.
National Heart Failure Audit [NHFA] (2010) reported that providing care to patients with heart failure costs the National Health Service (NHS) an estimated £625 million a year. Heart failure is considered to be among top ten diagnoses in terms of hospital bed days and spaces, this places significant demand on hospital admissions, as 90 percent of heart failure admissions are usually emergencies and account for 5 percent of all medical emergency admissions in hospitals in the United Kingdom (NHFA, 2010).

The unpredictability of the disease makes the assistance of partners important in the care of patients with heart failure. The support from partners or family members contribu...

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...000 - 2013 In order to gather all relevant and research material through the use of search databases, key terms were used. These terms were “experience of heart failure as perceived by partners”, “heart failure”, “caregiver burden of living with heart failure” and “Do partners experience caregiver burden?”. The inclusion criteria are those residence in the northwest of England, male or female between ages 55 – 60 years. This is to ensure that the aims of the study are met. The under age and those whose partners who are recently deceased were excluded. Eight researche papers were chosen for the review. From the eight, just one was from the United Kingdom (Macclesfield), others were from the United States of America, Australia, China, and Sweden. Hence the rationale for the study, to explore partners experiences of heart failure patients in the Northwest of England.

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