The Journal of cardiovascular nursing
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Self-care is at the foundation for living with a chronic condition such as heart failure (HF). Patients with HF express difficulty with translating self-care knowledge into understanding "how" to engage in these activities and behaviors. Understanding the strategies that patients develop to engage in self-care will help healthcare providers (HCPs) improve support for unmet self-care needs of HF patients. The purpose of this systematic review was to highlight strategies that HF patients use to accommodate self-care recommendations into the reality of their daily lives. ⋯ Healthcare providers must appreciate that patients view self-care as an "adaptation" that they undertake to maintain their independence and quality of life. In addition, HCPs must recognize that because self-care is a process of learning over time from experience, an individualized approach that emphasizes how to self-care must be adopted for patients to develop the necessary HF self-care skills.