Lyons Karen S, Whitlatch Carol J, Vest Amanda R, Upshaw Jenica N, Hutton Johnson Stacy, Walters Anna, Lee Christopher S
William F. Connell School of Nursing, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA.
Center for Research and Education, Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Innov Aging. 2024 Dec 7;9(1):igae106. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igae106. eCollection 2025.
Despite the significant impact of heart failure on both members of the care dyad, few interventions focus on optimizing the health of the dyad. The current study examined the feasibility and acceptability of the novel Taking Care of Us (TCU) program with mid-late-life couples living with heart failure and explored preliminary efficacy.
This NIH Stage I study used a 2-arm randomized controlled trial with pretest-post-test design and an additional 5-month follow-up to compare TCU with an educational counseling attention-control condition. 37 couples were randomized to TCU (18 couples) or an educational control group (19 couples). Both programs were delivered virtually over 2 months.
Adults with heart failure were primarily male (mean age = 66.32, standard deviation [] = 13.72); partners were primarily female (mean age = 63.00, = 12.73). Feasibility findings were mixed with over half of the eligible couples randomized, but only 67% of TCU couples completed the post-test. Acceptability of the TCU program was strong for both adults with heart failure and their partners. Recommendations for change focused on shortening session length, offering fewer sessions, and providing alternative modes of delivery. Exploratory between-group analyses found medium effect sizes for physical and mental health and dyadic management for both members of the couple, with many effects remaining 3 months later.
Findings suggest the TCU program is acceptable to couples with heart failure and shows promise for optimizing outcomes. Recommendations and strategies for improving retention and a more diverse sample are discussed.
NCT04737759.
尽管心力衰竭对照护二元组的双方都有重大影响，但很少有干预措施专注于优化二元组的健康状况。本研究考察了针对患有心力衰竭的中老年夫妇的新型“关爱我们”（TCU）项目的可行性和可接受性，并探索了其初步疗效。
这项美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）的I期研究采用双臂随机对照试验，采用前后测设计，并额外进行5个月的随访，以比较TCU项目与教育咨询对照条件。37对夫妇被随机分配到TCU组（18对夫妇）或教育对照组（19对夫妇）。两个项目均通过线上方式开展，为期2个月。
患有心力衰竭的成年人主要为男性（平均年龄=66.32，标准差[]=13.72）；其伴侣主要为女性（平均年龄=63.00，=12.73）。可行性结果喜忧参半，超过一半符合条件的夫妇被随机分组，但只有67%的TCU组夫妇完成了后测。TCU项目对患有心力衰竭的成年人及其伴侣的可接受性都很强。改进建议集中在缩短课程时长、减少课程数量以及提供其他授课方式。探索性组间分析发现，该项目对夫妇双方的身心健康和二元组管理有中等效应大小，许多效应在3个月后仍然存在。
研究结果表明，TCU项目为患有心力衰竭的夫妇所接受，并有望优化治疗效果。文中讨论了提高留存率和扩大样本多样性的建议及策略。
NCT04737759。
