On-Going Palliative Care Enhances Perceived Control and Patient Activation in Patients with Symptomatic Heart Failure

IntroductionFew studies have assessed the effectiveness of palliative care (PC) on perceived control (i.e. one's perceived influence over outcomes or events in the environment) and activation (i.e. ability to self-manage) in patients with symptomatic heart failure (HF).HypothesisWe hypothesized that patients with advanced HF who received on-going PC services (i.e. ≥ 2 PC consults) vs. no access or limited access to PC services (i.e. single PC consultations) would have greater improvements in perceived control and activation and greater reductions in symptom burden 3 months post-discharge for HF exacerbation.MethodsForty-two patients - average age 53.9 ± 8.0 years; predominantly male (72%); White (61%); married (69%) - completed an outpatient PC consultation following their routine post-discharge visit with their HF provider. Participants were encouraged to schedule follow-up visits with the PC team to optimize symptom control. Data on perceived control, activation, and symptom burden were collected at baseline and three months.ResultsFindings showed that the patients who received ≥ 2 PC consultations had greater improvements in perceived control and activation than their counterparts (Table 1 and 2); these increases were associated with greater reductions in symptom burden (Table 3).ConclusionTable 3Correlational matrix key for the key variables (N=42)Variable12345671Gender1,0002Race-0.0101.0003Palliative Care-0.147-0.2221.0004Perceived Control (baseline)-0.0710.430†P<.001.-0.1071.0005Patient Activation-0.1730.359∗P <.05.-0.0690.618†P<.001.1.0006Perceived Control ( 3-months)-0.0260.1570.432†P<.001.0.604†P<.001.0.487†P<.001.1.0007Patients Activation (3- months)-0.0670.0870.383∗P <.05.0.417†P<.001.0.412†P<.001.0.838†P<.001.1.000∗ P <.05.† P<.001. Open table in a new tab IntroductionFew studies have assessed the effectiveness of palliative care (PC) on perceived control (i.e. one's perceived influence over outcomes or events in the environment) and activation (i.e. ability to self-manage) in patients with symptomatic heart failure (HF).