Videoconferencing for Management of Heart Failure An Integrative Review

Heart failure (HF) is a chronic disease associated with poor prognosis, poor quality of life (QOL), and high medical costs among older adults. Monitoring symptoms, interpreting symptoms, and decision making are self-care skills required for effective HF management. Telemonitoring (TM) is increasingly used to reduce incidence of symptom exacerbation leading to rehospitalization. An integrative review was performed to describe the efficacy of TM interventions that include videoconferencing (VC) on the HF outcomes of hospital services use, self-care, and QOL. A review of 11 studies using VC combined with remote physiological monitoring demonstrated promising results in all areas except self-care. Additional research is needed to better specify the goals of VC interventions, the mechanisms by which VC interventions improve health outcomes, and the effect of VC interventions with adults of diverse race and ethnicity.