title: [Systemic nursing intervention in couples in which one member has cardiac insufficiency].
abstract: Chronic heart failure is a family affair since the spouse's quality of life is affected as much as that of the patient. This article deals with three clinical cases exploring the couple's perceptions of how the illness affected their marital relationship and how helpful the family systems nursing interventions have been. Three themes emerged from the analysis of the relationship between the evolution of the illness and the marital dynamics, and these are: a search for a balance between protectiveness/overprotectiveness, a reassessment of the marital relationship, and the adoption of new coping strategies. The family systems nursing interventions that were perceived as the most helpful were the systemic questionf1p4++ and the exploration of the couple's strengths and resources. These interventions allowed the couple to: 1) share their illness experience; 2) increase their understanding of the relationship between the illness and their marital dynamics, and 3) reflect on different ways to enhance their competence and resources in meeting with the challenges of this type of cardiac health problem.
authors.affiliation: Faculté des sciences infirmières, Université de Montréal, Québec. duhamelf@scinf.umontreal.ca
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Duhamel
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011788:Quality of Life; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*