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Project

INTERACT

Research into guidelines for heart failure in practice

Date

From until

Supported by

Interreg North-West Europe

What

PhD that focuses on the organization of non-pharmacological and multidisciplinary care in the context of heart failure.

Goal

To map the organization of non-pharmacological and multidisciplinary care in the context of heart failure in three European regions. Namely the Noorderkempen in Belgium, Maastricht in the Netherlands and Aachen in Germany.

Relevance

As we get older, we are more at risk of developing chronic conditions such as heart failure. It is the case that the number of patients with heart failure increases with age and it is estimated that 10% of people over 65 suffer from this condition.

Heart failure is a chronic and complex condition that often occurs in combination with other chronic conditions such as diabetes and COPD. This makes the treatment complex and challenging.

Research shows that in addition to drug treatment, a multidisciplinary approach and self-care support are essential to avoid and/or delay (re)admissions.

It is therefore essential to educate and support patients and/or their caregivers in self-care. At the moment, it is unclear how this non-pharmacological and multidisciplinary care is organized.

Our role

Mobilab & Care was part of the research team that wanted to investigate whether the Noorderkempen, Maastricht, and Aachen can provide sufficient and good care according to the current guidelines.

After an initial investigation of the care organization in the three regions under study, the research further developed into a PhD trajectory that focuses on mapping the non-pharmacological and multidisciplinary care that is currently being strengthened.

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) published new guidelines in 2016 for the treatment of acute and chronic heart failure. According to the ESC, heart failure nurses are part of the multidisciplinary team. In addition, these guidelines state that there must be a seamless transition of care from the hospital to the home.

The Heart Failure Association of the ESC has developed a training profile for heart failure profile. We compared training courses for heart failure nurses in Flanders and Germany and the training course for cardiovascular nurses in the Netherlands with this European training profile. This comparison shows that these courses integrate elements of the European training profile, but that no course fully implements this profile. In addition, each course contains elements that are not covered in the European profile.

In addition, we participate in HeartsConnect, the learning network heart failure that unites 8 different Flemish heart failure projects in the first line. This learning network aims to improve heart failure care in Belgium by, among other things, striving for more multidisciplinary care, heart failure education in the first line, reimbursement of the test for NT-proBNP, a marker for heart failure in the blood.

Publications

Document type Title Author Date Category Link

Rol van de hartfalenverpleegkundige: onderzoek naar organisatie hartfalenzorg in Belgische regio Noorderkempen.

Improving Knowledge Transfer to Effaciously Raise the level of Contemporary Treatment in Heart Failure (INTERACT-in-HF): Study protocol of a mixed methods study

Unravelling Heart Failure nurses education; content comparison of Heart Failure nurses’ education in three European Society of Cardiology states and the Heart Failure Association Heart Failure curriculum

Researchers

Researcher

Karolien Baldewijns

Committed researcher who enjoys exploring new paths and has a passion for empowerment.

Research manager

Lieven De Maesschalck

Innovation manager for the team, end-user driven with the aim of creating impact at the intersection of technology and wellbeing.

Partners