The effectiveness of individual rehabilitation on health status in patients with heart failure: A quasi‐experimental study

Patients with heart failure (HF) live with a serious disease, and need long‐term rehabilitation care. Elements in rehabilitation for patients with HF are based on the recommendations from the European Society of Cardiology and focuses on self‐care and adherence in general. The aim of this study is to test the effect of individually prepared rehabilitation plans measured on health status (HS). The study design is quasi‐experimental. Patients in the control group follow the conventional rehabilitation. For the patients in the intervention group. an individual rehabilitation plan was prepared and followed up by telephone after 4 and 12 weeks. For all patients, HS was measured with Short Form‐36. One hundred sixty‐two patients are included in the study, of which 137 (84.6%) consented. There were no differences in HS before and after the intervention. There are no significant differences by use of a systematically prepared intervention compared with usual care for patients with HF measured on HS 3 months after discharge from the outpatient clinic.