On its webpage “Lifestyle Changes for Heart Failure”, the American Heart Association states:” Small changes may reduce symptoms, and give you time for what matters most” (American Heart Association [AHA], 2017b). It advocates for several behavior changes, with the content being mirrored in a presentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA), about “Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Heart Failure Care” (Kinsinger, 2014).
Given that this patient is newly diagnosed with heart failure, education about the condition, contributing factors and self-management options are the first step to empower Mrs. Smith in patient-centered care. Teaching should be repetitive, tailored toward her needs and …show more content…
Smith. Since Mrs. Smith has difficulty with her memory and taking her medication regularly, a medication planner and personal organizer to keep important info for appointments, test results, etc., in one place might be helpful for her. General illness prevention recommendation includes vaccination: Mrs. Smith should get annual influenza vaccination, pneumococcal vaccine now and then every 5 years, and other vaccines as per general population recommendation for her age group, like herpes zoster vaccine (Kinsinger, 2014). Common recommendations for heart failure care advise alcohol restriction, smoking cessation, weight and stress management, physical activity, and a healthy diet (AHA, 2017b; Kinsinger, 2014). Since Mrs. Smith drinks eight to ten glasses of wine a week encouraging her to decrease this intake to no more than one drink / day is advisable: heavy use of alcohol can increase the risk for heart failure and alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy (Kinsinger, 2014). Furthermore, she should be encouraged to change her intake to non-alcoholic beverages, and to track her fluid intake to monitor
Given that this patient is newly diagnosed with heart failure, education about the condition, contributing factors and self-management options are the first step to empower Mrs. Smith in patient-centered care. Teaching should be repetitive, tailored toward her needs and …show more content…
Smith. Since Mrs. Smith has difficulty with her memory and taking her medication regularly, a medication planner and personal organizer to keep important info for appointments, test results, etc., in one place might be helpful for her. General illness prevention recommendation includes vaccination: Mrs. Smith should get annual influenza vaccination, pneumococcal vaccine now and then every 5 years, and other vaccines as per general population recommendation for her age group, like herpes zoster vaccine (Kinsinger, 2014). Common recommendations for heart failure care advise alcohol restriction, smoking cessation, weight and stress management, physical activity, and a healthy diet (AHA, 2017b; Kinsinger, 2014). Since Mrs. Smith drinks eight to ten glasses of wine a week encouraging her to decrease this intake to no more than one drink / day is advisable: heavy use of alcohol can increase the risk for heart failure and alcohol-induced cardiomyopathy (Kinsinger, 2014). Furthermore, she should be encouraged to change her intake to non-alcoholic beverages, and to track her fluid intake to monitor