Elsevier

Journal of Cardiac Failure

Volume 29, Issue 8, August 2023, Pages 1187-1206
Journal of Cardiac Failure

Review Article
Person with Heart Failure and Care Partner Dyads: Current Knowledge, Challenges, and Future Directions: State-of-the-Art Review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cardfail.2023.02.017Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Care partners are family or friends that provide unpaid support to patients.

  • Dyadic research focuses on the patient and care partner as an interdependent team.

  • Dyadic literature in heart failure consists primarily of disease management studies.

  • Provides evidence heart failure is a shared experience affecting both dyad members.

  • Holds promise for improving patient, care partner, and relationship health.

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been substantial growth in heart failure (HF) research that focuses on persons with HF and their care partners (family members or other close friends that provide unpaid support) as an interdependent team, or care dyad. In this state-of-the-art review, we use a dyadic lens to identify and summarize current research on HF care dyads, from qualitative studies, to nonexperimental quantitative studies, to randomized controlled trials. Although much work has been done, this literature is younger and less well-developed than care dyad literatures from other conditions (eg, cancer, Alzheimer's disease). We discuss the substantial challenges and limitations in this body of work, with an eye toward addressing common issues that impact rigor. We also look toward future directions, and discuss the promise dyadic research holds for improving patient, care partner, and relationship health.

Key Words

Heart failure
Caregivers
Care partners
Dyadic

Cited by (0)

Present address: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065.