Healthcare practices and interventions in Europe towards families of older patients with cardiovascular disease: A scoping review

Abstract

Background In Europe, cardiovascular disease is one of the predominant causes of mortality and morbidity among older people over 65 years. The occurrence of cardiovascular disease can have a negative impact on the quality of life of older patients and their families and family health overall. Assuming that illness is a family affair shaped by culture and health care systems, we explored European health care practices and interventions toward families of older patients with cardiovascular disease and heart failure. Aims This paper aimed to determine the extent, range, and variety of practices and interventions in Europe directed to families of older patients and to identify knowledge gaps. Materials & Methods A scoping review was conducted including studies published in Medline, CINHAL, or Cochrane library between 2009 and mid‐2020. Results A total of 22 articles from 17 studies were included, showing diverse practices and interventions. The interventions targeted the family as a unit (six studies), dyads (five studies), patients alone, but assessed family members’ reactions (five studies) or the family member primarily, but assessed the reaction of the patient (one study). Target outcomes were family caregiver burden; health‐related QoL; and perceived control in patients; and family functioning and changes in health behavior or knowledge in both, family members and patients. Most studies did not include an integral view of the family as the unit of care but rather had a disease‐centered approach. Discussion This scoping review provides insight into a variety of healthcare practices towards families of older patients with cardiovascular disease in Europe. Clarifying underlying assumptions to involve families is needed. More studies with family‐focused approaches as integral models could lead to practices that improve families’ well‐being. Exploring integral models for their acceptance in health care and family systems appears pertinent to develop European policy to support and add to family health.

Functioning of structurally diverse families living with adolescents and children with chronic disease: A metasynthesis

“…Additionally, another gap identified is the predominant focus of studies on the functioning of coparenting in structurally diverse families. This can be explained by the lack of a family approach, where the family as a system and a unit of care is not considered in the studies, a gap already described by other reviews (Konradsen et al, 2021;Mahrer-Imhof et al, 2021).…”

Implementation and efficacy of knowledge translation frameworks in family focused nursing care: A scoping review

“…In family nursing care, there might not yet be sufficient evidence to build convincing clinical guidelines on which interventions should be implemented (Mahrer-Imhof et al, 2022). Therefore, high quality intervention studies must be conducted before we can implement services that we know to be helpful for specific populations.…”

“…Over the last few decades, nurse researchers have developed knowledge to inform nursing practice with families who share an acute and/or a chronic illness experience with a family member (Beer & Brysiewicz, 2017; Chesla, 2010; Konradsen et al, 2021; Mahrer‐Imhof et al, 2022; Årestedt et al, 2014) However, in many health‐care systems inconsistencies in nursing practices towards families and challenges with the provision of family focused care have been reported (Major et al, 2019; Page et al, 2020; Waid & Kelly, 2020). Family nurse researchers focusing on advancing nursing practice continue to highlight the slow and insufficient integration of family nursing into routine care delivery (Bell, 2014; Duhamel, 2010; Duhamel & Dupuis, 2011; Leahey & Svavarsdottir, 2009; Naef, Massarotto, et al, 2020).…”

“…Several reviews have identified nursing interventions that benefit family members and family systems in care delivery and illness management (Chesla, 2010; Park & Giap, 2020; Smith et al, 2020). Despite this body of knowledge with promising evidence to be implemented in real‐world care settings, family nursing research emphasizes the need for further evidence‐based interventions in practice (Felix et al, 2021; Konradsen et al, 2021; Mahrer‐Imhof et al, 2022). Beneficial evidence needs to be implemented in practice to support families in health‐care systems.…”

Building Family Interventions for Scalability and Impact

“…Lord, 2019;S. Lord et al, 2020;Mahrer-Imhof et al, 2022;Mooney-Doyle et al, 2021). Despite providing evidence of the efficacy of family-focused interventions, the authors of these reviews identified considerable variation in the effects of interventions across families and limited attention to the family variables mediating and moderating intervention efficacy (García-Vivar et al, 2023).…”