None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Australia, and patients with existing coronary heart disease (CHD) are at increased risk of further cardiac events. Most secondary prevention guidelines recommend that patients with CHD modify their cardiac risk factors. To do this, patients require an adequate level of health literacy including awareness of their own condition and risk factors, and the knowledge to be able to make essential lifestyle modifications. The Heart Foundation recently updated a key resource My Heart My Life, which provides comprehensive information on recovery from heart disease. This project seeks to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the My Heart My Life resource on patient knowledge, behaviour change and health literacy in Victoria. Patients who have been admitted to Eastern Health with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) will be asked to complete a Health Literacy Questionnaire (developed by Deakin University). Questions will also be asked to determine understanding of terminology and actions to take to reduce health behaviour risk factors. Participants will then be randomised into two groups – one group who receive the My Heart My Life resource and a control group who receive usual in-patient education. A follow-up phone call will be done at one month to determine differences between the two patient groups in terms of cardiac knowledge and health-related behaviours. The results of this evaluation will determine whether patients who received the My Heart My Life resource obtain a greater understanding of their condition, report they are able to manage risk factors and are more likely to attend cardiac rehabilitation, compared with usual care.
Interventions
An educational booklet produced by the Heart Foundation Australia titled 'My heart my life'. The resource aims to support patients with coronary heart disease to understand and better manage their cardiac condition. The booklet has 5 main topic areas: (1) My heart (explains coronary heart disease) (2) In hospital (medical tests, medications, managing emotions, preparing for discharge) (3) My recovery (GP follow-up, cardiac rehabilitation, general information on risk factors) (4) Services and
An educational booklet produced by the Heart Foundation Australia titled 'My heart my life'. The resource aims to support patients with coronary heart disease to understand and better manage their cardiac condition. The booklet has 5 main topic areas: (1) My heart (explains coronary heart disease) (2) In hospital (medical tests, medications, managing emotions, preparing for discharge) (3) My recovery (GP follow-up, cardiac rehabilitation, general information on risk factors) (4) Services and support (role of cardiac rehabilitation and the heart foundation) (5) Take action (goal setting for personal risk factors including smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical activity, weight, lipids, blood pressure, diabetes and psychological health). The resource uses diagrams, text and some interactive exercises (e.g. checklists, self-evaluation and goal setting based on the stages of change model), and is intended to be given to patients to take home and use as part of their recovery. The intervention will be provided to patients in hospital by the research assistant who will briefly explain its contents (estimated time 15 minutes). A follow-up phone call will be made to patients at 1 month post-discharge, therefore the duration of the intervention is 1 month.
Sponsors
Deakin University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
All participants who are hospitalised within one of three Eastern Health cardiology units with a preliminary diagnosis of ACS (ICD-10 codes 120, 121, 122) will be eligible for inclusion. Participants must also be eligible for referral to a cardiac rehabilitation program; this will be determined by the cardiologist and cardiology nurse caring for that patient. Patients will be aged 18 years and over.
Exclusion criteria
Severe cognitive impairment or mental illness, unless a carer is able to complete questionnaires on behalf of the participant. Patients who are clinically unstable will also be excluded (eligibility to participate will be determined by the attending cardiology nurse using a check list). Non-English speaking patients are unable to be included as the education resource and questionnaires are written in the English language only.
Outcome results
None listed