Factors Impacting Readmissions of Older Patients With Heart Failure

The overall purpose of this study was to explore individual perceptions of life purpose, health-related quality of life, and hospital readmissions among older adults with heart failure. The problem addressed the heart failure patient's lack of understanding about the diagnosis, treatment, management, and predictors of heart failure within a framework of the older adult's life purpose and health- related quality of life. The goal was to provide a foundation for development of safe and effective holistic intervention strategies to decrease costly hospital readmissions for patients with heart failure. The research design was descriptive, correlational mixed method using a qualitative and quantitative concurrent triangulation. The setting for the study was San Antonio, Texas, the seventh largest city in the United States. The purposive sample consisted of 41 male and female participants aged 60 years and older. The research findings suggest a moderate, significant relationship between life purpose and health-related quality of life. Higher numbers of hospital readmissions were significantly related to more difficulty with management of heart failure and a poor sense of life purpose. This study may contribute to science by providing useful information that may be used in the management of heart failure among older adults.