Application of Transitional Care Model in Patients with Chronic Heart Disease: A Case-Controlled Intervention Study

Abstract

People with chronic heart disease are surroundedby many problems due to the natureof their illness. These include physicalproblems and disabilities in the daily activities of life, emotionalproblems as well as social and economic problemsthat are all the consequences of heart disease. The designand implementation of new care models as well as newmanagerial approaches are necessary to improve care andpatients’ access to better outcomes and, in general, toimprove the quality of life of this group of patients.The present study aims to investigate the effect of transitionalcare on quality of life in patients with chronic heartfailure in physical, emotional-spiritual, and socioeconomicdimensions.The present study is an experimental study on patientswith chronic heart failure who need nursing care duringhospitalization and after discharge from hospital. Thedata collection tool is Minnesota Living with Heart FailureQuestionnaire (MLHFQ). The sampling method is random.After the referral to the emergency department, the liaisonnurses randomly assigned samples to intervention andcontrol groups. The intervention group was followed upand trained by the liaison nurse for 6 months. The controlgroup members were hospitalized as usual and wentthrough their treatment process. A total of 168 sampleswere evaluated in both intervention and control groups.The results of the study show that the quality of life ofpatients in the intervention group is significantly higherthan the control group in different physical, emotionalspiritual,and socioeconomic dimensions (P <.05).In the transitional care model, nursing care focuses on improvingthe quality of care in various physical, emotionalspiritual,and socioeconomic dimensions, which leads toincreased patient and family outcomes, reduced hospitalizationcosts for patients with chronic heart disease, andincreased role and effect of home care provided.