# Taking Care of Us: A Dyadic Intervention for Heart Failure

> **NIH NIH R21** · BOSTON COLLEGE · 2021 · $236,000

## Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is a major public health problem affecting 6.5 million Americans and is the most common
reason for hospitalization and rehospitalization among older adults. Although there is evidence that clinical and
patient-oriented HF outcomes are improved with effective self-care, engagement in self-care is generally poor
among adults with HF. Family care partners (e.g., spouses, adult-children) make substantial contributions to the
management of HF, but frequently at the expense of their own physical and mental health and significant care-
related strain. The majority of non-pharmacologic HF management interventions involve patient education and
behavioral counseling, with limited evidence of success. Family-based interventions have been shown to be
more successful in the broad illness context, but within HF results have been mixed and few family-based
interventions have included care partner outcomes. Thus, there is a critical need for theoretically- and
empirically-driven dyadic interventions to improve the outcomes of both HF patients and their care partners. The
proposed study will evaluate a novel, dyadic HF program, Taking Care of Us, versus an educational counseling
control condition using a randomized controlled trial on 72 HF care dyads. Specifically, we will 1) determine the
efficacy of the Taking Care of Us intervention on dyadic health; 2) determine the efficacy of the Taking Care of
Us intervention on dyadic appraisal and dyadic management; and 3) determine the feasibility and acceptability
of the Taking Care of Us intervention. The proposed dyadic intervention will be one of the first to target the
outcomes of both the HF patient and their care partner simultaneously through a team-based approach centered
on collaboration, communication and confidence. Results of this study will provide vital information to move us
closer to translating successful programs into clinical practice and shed important light on whether, for whom,
and how the Taking Care of Us program benefits both members of the HF care dyad.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10259740
- **Project number:** 5R21AG068715-02
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Christopher Sean Lee
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $236,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-10 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10259740

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10259740, Taking Care of Us: A Dyadic Intervention for Heart Failure (5R21AG068715-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10259740. Licensed CC0.

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