Talking it out: phone program boosts heart failure Patients' and Caregivers' Well-Being
NCT ID NCT05864469
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tested a 12-week telephone-based program for heart failure patients and their family caregivers. The program included six weekly sessions followed by four follow-up calls, focusing on improving the relationship between patient and caregiver, as well as each person's resilience and quality of life. A total of 192 patient-caregiver pairs took part, with half receiving the program and half getting usual care.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- 12-week psychosocial dyadic intervention (telephone-based sessions)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this program could offer a practical way to improve emotional well-being and relationship quality for heart failure patients and their family caregivers.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, completed study with no blinding, so results may be influenced by participant expectations. The intervention is also specific to Chinese-speaking dyads, limiting generalizability.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
-
192 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
-
May 2023
- Finished
-
Feb 2025
- Lead sponsor
-
Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
-
18 years and older
- Sex
-
Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
-
Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * patients and caregivers aged 18 years or older * patients diagnosed with heart failure * able to identify one family caregiver who provides unpaid daily caregiving≥3.5hr/ day to participate * patients and caregivers able to read simplified Chinese and communicate in Mandarin * have access to a telephone at home. Exclusion Criteria: * psychiatric problems requiring active treatment * other terminal illnesses, such as advanced cancer * with mechanical circulatory support, on the heart transplant list or with a history of heart transplant
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Heart failure are added.
Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
-
Union hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan, Hubei, 430000, China
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Which SGLT2 inhibitor wins? trial pits empagliflozin against dapagliflozin
- Can daily mindful breathing ease heart failure symptoms?
- Can a smartphone app keep heart failure patients out of the hospital?
- Can better training get doctors to talk about what matters most to dying veterans?
- Can AI read heart ultrasounds as well as trained sonographers?
- Can modern heart failure drugs reverse damage in three months?