Keywords: Heart Failure, multidisciplinary care, patient education
 

"From guideline to practise: The organisation of multidisciplinary heart failure care in three European regions"

Heart failure is a common, chronic and debilitating condition. To reduce the impact of heart failure, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has developed guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure. This thesis examines the application of these guidelines in three European regions; Maastricht (Netherlands), Noorderkempen (Belgium) and Aachen (Germany). More specifically, it focuses on how the guidelines related to multidisciplinary care and patient education are applied and used. The overall aim of this thesis is therefore to gain a better understanding of the current organisation and regulation of heart failure care in these three regions. First, the current processes of heart failure care were explored. After which, the local implementation of European guidelines regarding multidisciplinary care and patient education was examined. Next, the extent to which national training programmes for heart failure nurses correspond to the European training programme was examined. Finally, patient education as experienced by different professionals was mapped.

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