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Increasing patients’ awareness of their own health: Experiences of participating in follow-up programs after surgical treatment for intermittent claudication

•Follow-up programs after surgery for intermittent claudication are highly valuable for increasing patients’ awareness about and reflection on their own health•Nurse-led, person-centred care is experienced as important in maintaining a health-promoting lifestyle•Surgical units should consider collab...

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Published in:Journal of vascular nursing 2022-03, Vol.40 (1), p.47-53
Main Authors: Haile, Sara, Lööf, Helena, Johansson, Unn-Britt, Linné, Anneli, Joelsson-Alm, Eva
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:•Follow-up programs after surgery for intermittent claudication are highly valuable for increasing patients’ awareness about and reflection on their own health•Nurse-led, person-centred care is experienced as important in maintaining a health-promoting lifestyle•Surgical units should consider collaboration between patients and health professionals with a person-centred approach during treatment and follow-up Claudication is the most usual symptom of peripheral artery disease, it is described as painful contractions in the leg when walking and alleviated upon resting. People with claudication have an added risk of cardiocerebrovascular events, amputation, and death. Adherence to medical treatment and changes in lifestyles can lower this risk, but this secondary prevention therapy requires engagement, participation, and adherence from the patient. To explore patients’ experiences of participating in a 1-year multicentre clinical trial with two follow-up programs evaluating a nurse-led, patient-centered health-promoting programme after surgical treatment for claudication, the FASTIC study. A descriptive design with qualitative semi-structured interviews was used among participants in the FASTIC study. The study was conducted at two centres for vascular surgery in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. In all, 17 patients (nine men and eight women) who had completed the FASTIC study participated. Data was analysed using qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Two main categories were identified, ‘Patient-Professional collaboration’ and ‘Experience of one´s health’, which were associated with four subcategories: facing opportunities and obstacles, cooperating based on the illness experience, increasing awareness of one's own health, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Patients' participation in follow-up programs after surgical treatment for claudication is highly valuable for an increased awareness of one's own health. A person-centered care with patient-professional collaboration is experienced as important for maintaining a health-promoting lifestyle.
ISSN:1062-0303
1532-6578
1532-6578
DOI:10.1016/j.jvn.2021.11.004