Background
Globally, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the biggest cause of death worldwide with more than 17 million deaths occurring in 2008. Within Australia, cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, and when last calculated, were responsible for 21.9% of total disability-adjusted life years (DALY) in 1996. Healthy eating has been identified as a key strategy for the self-management of chronic illnesses such as CVD. As such, the promotion of healthy eating has been recognised as an integral part of high-quality primary care.
General Practitioners (GPs) play a central role in the on-going management of patients with CVD and are a valuable source of information regarding how to self-manage. However, it is widespread in the literature that patients have difficulty coping with strategies and mechanisms as a means of changing their diet. It is evident that nutrition education based exclusively or predominantly on providing knowledge and skills has not been shown to be effective. This has direct implications for GPs given that lifestyle is a cost- and clinically-effective means of managing CVD. Although there have been studies and reviews of patients' self-management of CVD, further research is required to address the barriers to self-management in individuals with heart disease in order to provide an appropriate guide for intervention strategies.