Management considerations in the care of elderly heart failure patients in long-term care facilities

Heart failure, a condition that affects up to 20% of older persons residing in long-term care facilities, is an important cause of morbidity, health service utilization and death. Effective and interprofessional heart failure care processes could potentially improve care, outcomes and quality of life and delay decline or hospital admission. This article reviews the clinical aspects of heart failure, and the challenges to the diagnosis and management of this condition in long-term care residents who are frail and are affected by multiple comorbidities.