I LEARNED TO SAY NO TO ANYONE......UNDERSTANDING HEART FAILURE PATIENTS’ LEARNING PROCESS AND BEHAVIOUR: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Gülcan BAKAN¹ , ASIYE AKYOL²

Becoming a patient with chronic HF involves a process of taking on a new identity. The behaviours of the patients have been based on their experience of the disease. The aim of this study was to explore HF patients health behaviours, beliefs, experiences, adaptation, coping strategies and learning process. The design is qualitative descriptive. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 HF patients. Content analysis was used to analyse. Patient learning process and behaviours in chronic heart failure were determined by using basic principles of SLT. Four main themes that emerged from the the qualitative data: restrictions, fellowship, learn to cope, roles. Heart failure patients explain their restriction about daily activity and sexuality. Also, they state about spouse's support, coping with chronic disease, changing of their roles, fear particularly when experiencing severe shortness of breath. SLT indicate that an individual’s representation of illness affects how they cope and view their quality of life. This is the first study that SLT being used to study patients with HF in Turkey. The results of the study will be helpful in developing new strategies and interventions to improve patient coping behaviours.

Keywords
Heart Failure, Learning Process, Qualitative Study, Social Learning Theory, Patients’ Experiences,