title: Exploring partners' perspectives on participation in heart failure home care: a mixed-method design.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the partners' perspectives on participation in the care for patients with heart failure receiving home care.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Partners are often involved in care of patients with heart failure and have an important role in improving patients' well-being and self-care. Partners have described both negative and positive experiences of involvement, but knowledge of how partners of patients with heart failure view participation in care when the patient receives home care is lacking.
  
  
  METHODS
  A convergent parallel mixed-method design was used, including data from interviews and questionnaires.
  
  
  METHODS
  A purposeful sample of 15 partners was used. Data collection lasted between February 2010 - December 2011. Interviews were analysed with content analysis and data from questionnaires (participation, caregiving, health-related quality of life, depressive symptoms) were analysed statistically. Finally, results were merged, interpreted and labelled as comparable and convergent or as being inconsistent.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Partners were satisfied with most aspects of participation, information and contact. Qualitative findings revealed four different aspects of participation: adapting to the caring needs and illness trajectory, coping with caregiving demands, interacting with healthcare providers and need for knowledge to comprehend the health situation. Results showed confirmatory results that were convergent and expanded knowledge that gave a broader understanding of partner participation in this context.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results revealed different levels of partner participation. Heart failure home care included good opportunities for both participation and contact during home visits, necessary to meet partners' ongoing need for information to comprehend the situation.
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Unit in Local Health Care and Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2661-4794
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Näsström
authors.affiliation: Research Group Nursing Diagnostics, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marie Louise
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Luttik
authors.affiliation: Department of Care Science, Malmö University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Idvall
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Department of Cardiology, Linköping University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strömberg
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000451:nursing*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011788:Quality of Life; D018454:Spouses; D013548:Sweden
keywords: caregivers; family; heart failure; home care; mixed method; nursing; participation