Self-care behaviors in indigent patients with heart failure.

Abstract

Self-care has been shown to be an effective strategy to decrease heart failure (HF) costs and improve patient outcomes. However, high symptom burden, overall poor health, and economic and financial concerns in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations such as those of low socioeconomic status and those who are indigent or uninsured may have difficulty performing self-care behaviors. Currently, little is known about this group and their self-care behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of indigent HF patients and their performance of self-care behaviors and explore the challenges and barriers they face in managing their HF.