What is the purpose of the QUALIPAT Heart project?
The purpose of the QUALIPAT Heart project is to find patient-centric quality indicators for care, using semi-structured interviews with patients with advanced chronic heart failure (CHF), their carers, and health and care professionals. Interviews were conducted every three months for up to a year, followed by focus groups, in academic GP practices in Heidelberg, Germany. A narrative analysis framework was used for concurrent analysis and 20 patients with advanced CHF and their carers were interviewed. Five patients died during the follow-up period and their families were interviewed for a bereavement interview. The mean age of the participants was 70 (range not stated) and the severity of the CHF was classified as NYHA IV. The project is part of a larger palliative care study.