Implementation of a Shared Medical Appointment as a Holistic Approach to CHF Management

Congestive heart failure is a costly chronic disease within the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a holistic shared medical appointment (SMA) approach to congestive heart failure. Findings suggest the SMA approach improves depression, quality of life (QOL), and health-promoting behaviors. This study implemented congestive heart failure self-management education in primary care using a holistic multidisciplinary approach with SMA to provide evidence-based interventions to improve depression, QOL, and health promotion outcomes. Patients participating in the holistic multidisciplinary SMA experienced improvement in depression, QOL, and health promotion behaviors. A comparison of the means between preintervention and postintervention showed an overall reduction in systolic blood pressure, weight, depression scores, QOL scores, and several indicators of health promotion lifestyle.