Rising Above Heart Disease through a Home Disease Management Program

In the United States, almost six million hospitalizations each year are due to cardiovascular disease. Every 34 seconds, a person in the United States dies from heart disease. More than 2,500 Americans die from heart disease each day.

Anyone who has dealt with these statistics head on – either through a personal cardiac hospitalization or through the experiences of a loved one – truly understands the blunt force of fear. Oftentimes while still lying in their hospital beds, patients will promise to make life changes to prevent further heart damage, vowing to eat better, exercise more often and lose that excess weight. Maintaining that change-driven attitude after they are back in their own homes – now, that can be quite a challenge.

For an individual dealing with heart failure, returning to life outside the hospital can be a scary step. After all, a heart disease patient spends most of his or her time outside of a hospital and a physician’s direct care, with their disease management essentially in their own hands. Does that have to be the case?

Here is where educating the patient comes in. An individual with heart failure does not need to go home without the tools for success. The first step for a heart disease patient includes talking to his or her primary care physician about a home healthcare disease management program.

What exactly is this? In the case of heart disease, a heart failure management program is a patient-centric, multidisciplinary approach to reducing avoidable re-hospitalization and promoting patient self-management. From the point that a hospitalized individual with heart failure is identified as a candidate for possible discharge, a home healthcare organization should be involved to formulate effective, patient-centric goals.

Implementing a heart failure management program into an individual’s care plan is empowering. It teaches the individual vital self-management tools to have control over his or her condition. By increasing the individual’s knowledge over his or her own signs and symptoms, early steps can be taken to reduce major problems and health issues.

A significant part of the program focuses on preventative and proactive measures, such as instructions on diets and nutrition, knowledge of signs and symptoms, proper medication management, exercise and fitness tips and assistance, and poor health habit elimination.
An effective failure management program also focuses on the needs of individuals with heart failure across the full healthcare continuum and provides programs such as the Rapid Response Team and Smoking Cessation Counseling. It involves all healthcare professionals working in an integrated, team-oriented manner for the patient.

The first step is with the patient. The end result is a heart that is there for loving, not for worrying..