Addressing the burden of heart failure in Australia: the scope for home-based interventions.
The growing burden of heart failure (HF) challenges health practitioners to implement and evaluate models of care to facilitate optimal health related outcomes. Australia supports a publicly funded universal health insurance system with a strong emphasis on primary care provided by general practitioners. The burden of chronic HF, and a social and political framework favoring community-based, noninstitutionalized care, represents an ideal environment in which home-based HF programs can be implemented successfully. Cardiovascular nurses are well positioned to champion and mentor implementation of evidence-based, patient-centered programs in Australian communities. This paper describes the facilitators and barriers to implementation of best practice models in the Australian context. These include the challenge of providing care in a diverse, multicultural society and the need for clinical governance structures to ensure equal access to the most effective models of care.
Davidson
P
P
School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, University of Western Sydney, Australia. davidsont@sesahs.nsw.gov.au
Stewart
S
S
Elliott
D
D
Daly
J
J
Sindone
A
A
Cockburn
J
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017146:Models, Organizational; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care