Background: Heart failure self-care is important yet often sub-optimal. This literature review identifies and analyses the literature on heart failure patients' experiences of non-pharmacological self-care.

Methods: The literature was searched in April 2015 using EBSCO Host. The World Health Organization (WHO) (2003) dimensions of adherence framework was used for data analysis.

Results: The identified literature (14 primary articles; 4 literature reviews) was heavily weighted towards patient-related factors, namely acceptance of diagnosis, bio-behavioural variables and decision-making characteristics. Poor symptom recognition/management and the presence of comorbidities (specifically depression) were common condition-related factors highlighted as barriers to self-care. Lifestyle factors (therapy-related dimension) and professional support (health system/team dimension) were briefly described.

Conclusions: This narrative literature review highlighted that heart failure self-care regimes are complex and often challenging to maintain. Further qualitative research regarding the therapy-related and health system-related factors would shed light on individual variations of and barriers to self-care.