The self‐care coping process in patients with chronic heart failure: A qualitative study

Aim To understand the self‐care coping process among chronic heart failure patients. Background Previous studies have been carried out to understand the experience and the challenges of living with chronic heart failure. However, the coping processes that patients use to overcome self‐care challenges are less understood. Design A qualitative design with qualitative content analysis of data was employed. Methods Purposive sampling was conducted to recruit inpatients with chronic heart failure between March 1, 2014–March 1, 2015, in a teaching hospital in Taiwan. Semi‐structured interviews (N = 27) were completed, and a content analysis was performed using an inductive method to explore the self‐care coping processes in patients with chronic heart failure. Results The findings were categorised into three themes: (a) responding to chronic heart failure self‐care (dealing with negative emotions, accepting reality and struggling between a self‐care regime and self preference), (b) finding ways to live with chronic heart failure (enhancing understanding and knowledge about chronic heart failure, maintaining outer and inner self, engaging positively/negatively with others and relying on religious thoughts and seeking consolation) and (c) reinterpreting chronic heart failure and performing meaning‐oriented coping (re‐evaluating the meaning of life, assigning a new perspective for chronic heart failure and discovering a deeper meaning behind it). Conclusion Self‐appearance concerns should be given more attention by healthcare professionals. Meaning‐oriented coping was found to be helpful to cope with the challenges of chronic heart failure. Thus, there is a need to develop interventions associated with meaning‐oriented coping to enhance coping strategies for chronic heart failure patients. Relevance to clinical practice It is suggested for healthcare professionals to understand an individual's coping process and support people with chronic heart failure who struggle with self‐care coping. Furthermore, specific interventions including meaning‐oriented interventions might benefit people with chronic heart failure to cope more successfully.