Psychological couple-oriented interventions for patients with heart disease and their partners: a scoping review and guidelines for future interventions

Abstract

ObjectiveThis scoping review aims to provide an accessible summary of available evidence on the efficacy of psychological couple-based interventions among patients with heart disease and their partners focusing on specific aspects and strategies by assessing different emotional and physical cardiac-related outcome measures.MethodsA literature search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, Medline, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases using the keywords “heart diseases” and “couple-based intervention.” A literature search using systematic methods was applied. Data were extracted to address the review aims and were presented as a narrative synthesis.ResultsThe database search produced 11 studies. Psychological couple-based interventions varied in terms of the type of intervention, personnel, format (group or individual, phone or in person), number of sessions, and duration. Most of the contributions also lacked adequate details on the training of professionals, the contents of the interventions, and the theoretical models on which they were based. Finally, although partners were involved in all the treatment, in most studies, the psychological strategies and outcomes were focused on the patient.ConclusionThe variability of the psychological couple-based interventions of included studies represents a challenge in summarizing the existing literature. Regarding their impact, psychological interventions for patients with cardiovascular disease and their partners were found to moderately improve patients’ and partners’ outcomes.

Recognizing and Appreciating the Partner’s Support Protects Relationship Satisfaction during Cardiac Illness

“…In fact, focusing on jointly managing stress, emotional expressions, and communication skills may support a well-functioning relationship. For these reasons, health practitioners working with couples coping with heart diseases are encouraged to utilize empirically validated prevention and intervention programs [39] designed to help couples cope with stress in their relationship during the cardiac disease and to detect the caregivers' burden, offering specific psychological support to those partners who experience adverse outcomes [90,91].…”

“…Considering that marital distress is associated with lower recovery paths and poorer outcomes, RS should be considered a relevant goal of interventions in this context. However, interventions specifically aimed at improving RS are relatively scarce [39,92].…”

“…Furthermore, relationship quality and stability are considered protective factors both for the cardiac patient in terms of survival [35,36] and mental health [37] and also for the caregiver's psychological well-being [37,38]. In fact, in the cardiac disease context, it is important to consider not only the caregiver as a provider of cure and the patient as a receiver but also their specific contribution to the other and to the relationship more generally because, despite the presence of a cardiac illness, the patient and the caregiver continue to be partners with relational needs, for example, closeness and intimacy [8,39,40].…”