Increasing self-knowledge: Utilizing tele-coaching for patients with congestive heart failure.

The objective was to assess self-care knowledge changes with dually eligible Medicare and Medicaid patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF), who received a telecoaching protocol integrating symptom monitoring with face-to-face video chat with a social worker. We recruited 45 patients with CHF from a regional managed care organization. Sessions via a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant tablet-based platform focused on educational information designed to improve patient self-care. Social workers administered the 13-item Member Confidence Measure (MCM) at baseline and at a 30-day follow-up period. Scores were recorded to measure differences in patients' understanding of CHF and related symptoms, their knowledge of the disease, and the behaviors necessary to prevent their symptoms from getting worse. Over the 30-day period, scores significantly (p < .01) increased on the total scale score and specific confidence measure subscales (symptom recognition, medication adherence, medical attention, healthy choices, and safety). Gender, race, and age were unrelated to these improvements. In addition, effect sizes for the sub-scales ranged from .54 to 1.08; the effect size of the intervention as expressed by the total scale score was 1.12. Overall, patients increased knowledge over a 30-day period. Tele-coaching by social workers holds promise as a feasible model for health education for high-risk populations.