Educational Resources on a Selection of Injectable Therapies with Cardiovascular Benefits

Increasingly novel Cardio-Renal-Metabolic (CaReMe) therapies in the form of injectable medicines are being developed and approved to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events in patients at high risk of, or with established CVD. The aim of this project was to investigate the perspectives of patients and healthcare professionals on the use of novel injectable medicines, the barriers and facilitators to the implementation and use of injectables to manage long-term CaReMe conditions.

The output included: (1) several publications (listed below) and (2) the develop of educational materials about the main challenges that patients and healthcare professionals reported around injectables with cardiovascular benefits. The development of these materials included the following steps:

• Consulting the literature and the research findings of our ESC / ACNAP researchers on the experience with the use of injectable medicines with cardiovascular benefits.
• The development of the patient and the healthcare professional leaflets focused on findings from the following publications:
  • Khatib et al (2021) identified patient barriers: which included needle phobia, lack of education on injectables, side effects, injection site reactions, perceived lack of benefits. Healthcare professionals’ barriers: were around the management of adherence, identification of issues with patients and the lack of information among other healthcare professionals.
  • Lee et al (2023) found that needle phobia was common among patients and lack of accessible patient information. The need to focus on better education and support of patients would improve uptake of injectables to optimise lipids.
  • Lee et al (2022) qualitative study identified various themes impacting on use of injectables including (i) Organisational and governance issues – such as lack of communication between hospital and primary care setting; (ii) Clinical issues around healthcare professionals’ skills such as experience in providing education to patients and caregivers; (iii) Patient-related issues such as reluctance about using injectables.
  • Lambrinou et al (2020) concluded that improving the use of injectables requires effective communication and development of therapeutic relationships with patients. In their commentary, they concluded education through educational campaigns and e-learning are needed for health care professionals to identify patients eligible for injectable treatment. They also recognised the role of health care professionals in promoting adherence among patients.

• Patient and public involvement and engagement activities:
  • Between November and December 2024, feedback was collected for the newly designed leaflets and videos. Additional round of feedback was received after changes were made. Online discussion forums were held on Microsoft Teams and online surveys were designed and disseminated to collect the feedback. A range of people and healthcare professionals were invited, who had various levels of experience with injectables. Amendments were made based on the suggestions and comments to improve the quality of materials alongside their accessibility and user-friendliness.

• Session at EuroHeartCare ACNAP Congress, June 2021: Nursing and allied professions perspectives' of self-administered injectable therapies: survey findings
• Abstract Presented at ESC Congress 2022: Patients and healthcare professionals views on injectables for cardiovascular disease
• ACNAP Webinar, March 2022: Injectable therapies for cardiovascular disease: optimising their use in practice - experiences from the UK and Italy
• European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, Volume 21, Issue 5, July 2022, Pages 430–437,Perceptions of injectable therapies with cardiovascular benefit: an ACNAP survey of healthcare professionals to explore facilitators and barriers

Feedback

For any questions or feedback related to these resources please contact acnap@escardio.org.