Strategies for enhancing home-based cardiac rehabilitation self-management for patients with coronary heart disease: a qualitative study

BackgroundSelf-management is regarded as a crucial factor influencing the effectiveness of home-based cardiac rehabilitation for patients with coronary heart disease. In nursing practice, nurses employ a variety of strategies to enhance self-management of patients. However, there exists a disparity in nurses' perceptions and practical experiences with these strategies. This study aimed to explore the experiences and strategies of clinical nurses in enhancing home-based cardiac rehabilitation self-management for patients with coronary heart disease.MethodsA descriptive qualitative study was conducted across two large cardiac rehabilitation centers. Clinical nurses were selected using purposive sampling with maximum variation strategies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to capture nurses' experiences and strategies for enhancing home-based cardiac rehabilitation self-management. Content analysis was utilized to analyze the textual data.ResultsA total of 18 eligible clinical nurses participated in this study. The interviews resulted in the extraction of seven subthemes, which were consolidated into three main themes: (1) Personalized and Engaging Educational Approaches, including Precision Education-Tailored, Adaptive Approaches and Visual Aided Education-Beyond Simplification to Deep Engagement; (2) Contextual and Psychologically Grounded Nudging Strategies, comprising Information Framing-Psychological Leveraging for Informed Choices, Social Norms-Leveraging Peer Influence for Motivation, and Verbal Reminders-The Power of Consistency and Reinforcement; (3) Continuous and Personalized Support Systems, involving Regular Follow-Up-Dynamic Support for Ongoing Engagement and Collaborative Management-Building a Team for Long-Term Success. These robust strategies can effectively enhance self-management behaviors and quality of life in patients undergoing home-based cardiac rehabilitation.ConclusionsFrom the perspective of clinical nurses, this study explored a variety of strategies for improving home-based cardiac rehabilitation self-management in patients with coronary heart disease. This provides theoretical support for optimizing intervention measures and promotes the effective delivery and application of self-management strategies in practice.Clinical trial numberNot applicable.