impact of therapeutic education on lifestyles: perception of patients and their relatives

Therapeutic patient education, which advocates a change of behaviour, may affect the patient's and the patient's family's lifestyles. The aim of this survey was to describe the perception of heart failure patients and their families concerning the impact of TPE on their lifestyles. A national self-administered questionnaire survey b was performed from january to May 2013 with patients and their relatives. A total of 2,153 questionnaires were sent to all patients registered in the Heart Failure Observatory registry (Odin), who forwarded them to a relative of their choice. Only relatives of educated patients were included. A total of 2,397 questionnaires were sent to patients. We obtained 149 responses from patient's families (7%). One half of them (50.3%) met our inclusion criteria. We obtained 257 responses from patients (11 %). Respondents noted a change in the patient's daily lifestyle after TPE (85.8% of the total population) and said that the patient had a more positive approach to his/her illness (70.7% of the total population). According to respondents, relatives had changed their lifestyle after their participation of TPE (67.8% of the total population). This study shows that patients and their relatives report a positive change in their lifestyle due to TPE. The patient's relatives appear to comply with the recommendations of health professionals, initially designed for the patient.