ACTIVE-HF

Information and guidance about exercise participation for heart failure (HF) is lacking, and patients report that provider recommendations for physical activity (PA) are ambiguous, lack consistency (take it easy vs. regular activity), and/or are unrealistic. This study seeks to assess knowledge about exercise as part of HF self-management, barriers to exercise participation, and what skills and resources older patients with HF perceive needing to perform exercise regularly. Four focus groups with older HF patients and their caregivers (N=32) will be conducted to gain in-depth understanding, explore experiences, and elicit concepts pertaining to knowledge, attitudes, barriers, and perceptions of physical activity for HF. The information generated from these interviews will be used to develop an exercise toolkit (HF-ACTIVE) specific to older HF patients. The applicability and usefulness of the HF-ACTIVE toolkit will be subsequently pilot tested in a sample of older HF patients and interventionists (N=12) participating in the Duke outpatient HF physical rehabilitation program.

We plan to use directed content analysis/applied thematic analysis, organizing the data in response to the a priori questions contained in the focus group and interview guides. Transcripts will be examined for common and emergent themes as well as a priori themes. Qualitative software will be used to assist with qualitative data analysis (NVivo).