{"id":205455,"date":"2025-10-06T18:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T18:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/205455\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T18:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T18:37:08","slug":"heart-failure-patients-benefit-from-whole-health-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/205455\/","title":{"rendered":"Heart failure patients benefit from \u201cwhole health\u201d approach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barbara Tiney didn\u2019t expect much from the Koa Family Program<\/a>, a health and well-being program for heart failure patients at UC Davis Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a retired nurse, she had already done a lot of research on her diagnosis: heart failure with preserved ejection fraction<\/a>. She understood the importance of eating well and staying active. But what surprised her most was how healing it felt to connect with other women facing the same diagnosis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all needed someone to talk to, someone besides our doctor who truly understood what we were going through,\u201d Tiney reflected. \u201cIn each other, we found that support. We became more than just program participants \u2014 we became a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

A whole health approach to heart failure<\/p>\n

The Koa Family Program was created by the Prevention Policy & Practice Group<\/a> (3PG) at the UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research<\/a>. It uses a \u201cwhole health\u201d approach to support women\u2019s well-being. This means looking at the full picture \u2014 mind, body and spirit. It also means helping participants improve their health through better eating, regular exercise, stress management and weight control.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe aim to foster empowerment and self-care by supporting individuals to become active participants in their own health journey \u2014 building confidence and strengthening the skills needed for effective self-management,\u201d explained Julia Smith, who serves as a certified health coach for the program.<\/p>\n

Thanks to strong results from earlier weight loss program trials led by Desiree Backman<\/a>, chief of 3PG, the whole health program was adapted for patients with heart failure. Backman and co-investigator, Neal Kohatsu<\/a>, a 3PG physician-researcher, obtained funding for the work through a grant from the Rosenfeld Foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that there is growing evidence that a whole health lifestyle approach can have benefits for individuals with a variety of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease and diabetes,\u201d explained Backman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kohatsu agreed, recommending that \u201ca Mediterranean diet, regular physical activity and stress management make up an optimal lifestyle for just about everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Barbara
\nBarbara Tiney participated in the Koa Family Program\u2019s \u201cwhole health\u201d approach to support women\u2019s well-being.<\/p>\n

Finding strength in shared experience<\/p>\n

During the 14-week program, Smith led sessions over Zoom. She provided education, encouraged group connections and helped guide participants through each step of the journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cJulia was a remarkable facilitator,\u201d Tiney said. \u201cShe made us feel truly heard and valued \u2014 not just as patients, but as people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The community setting creates a caring space where people support each other and help each other stay on track. By sharing stories and talking openly, everyone learns from one another and sees how important each person\u2019s voice is.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBeyond nutrition and exercise, we talked about how we were really feeling,\u201d Tiney recalled. \u201cSome of us had been living with the condition for over 20 years, while others were newly diagnosed. Hearing their stories gave me hope. Their strength helped me feel less afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the 14-week course, Tiney and her newly found \u201cfamily\u201d didn\u2019t want their time together to end. So, the group decided to organize Zoom reunion sessions to stay connected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t want it to end \u2014 we had just started to really get to know each other,\u201d shared Tiney. \u201cIt\u2019s important to continue what Koa is all about. It\u2019s a healing process.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, the group has held three reunion meetings and is currently planning a fourth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish this program were available to more people in the community,\u201d Tiney said. \u201cWe offered each other empathy \u2014 not just sympathy \u2014 and that helped me realize I have resilience. I can still live fully with my diagnosis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Results from the Koa Family Program for heart failure patients were promising. Based on self-report, a majority of the 17 participants were eating more healthily, were more physically active and reported weight loss and an improved sense of well-being.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole health approach aligns with our broader vision of delivering comprehensive heart failure care \u2014 from prevention to advanced treatment,\u201d said Martin Cadeiras<\/a>, clinical professor of cardiovascular medicine<\/a> at UC Davis Health. \u201cThese encouraging results reinforce our commitment, and we\u2019re hopeful they will help us reach even more patients living with heart failure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barbara Tiney didn\u2019t expect much from the Koa Family Program, a health and well-being program for heart failure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-205455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}