Caregiving in Heart Failure

Heart failure (HF) affects the lives of patients as well as their family members, who are a fundamental source of support for patients. During the last 2 decades, researchers have increasingly given attention to caregivers of patients with HF worldwide. In 2014, the National Institute of Nursing Research addressed the significance of the science of caregiving. Since then, each year about 100 articles related to caregiving in HF have been published by researchers worldwide. Here, Chung talks about the gaps in caregiving science in HF globally. In the science of caregiving in HF, one primary focus of researchers is accumulating evidence about how caregivers contribute to the outcomes of patients with HF. The contribution of family caregivers is evident in improving patient HF management by supporting direct and indirect self-care activities and improving clinical outcomes, including educing readmission and mortality for patients with HF. There is a growing literature on the science of caregiving worldwide, but there are still gaps that must be addressed for improvement in research in caregiving in HF.