Contact: Jill Holder

Debra Moser, D.N.Sc.

Moser also will spend time at the University of Newcastle, University of Technology, St. George Hospital, and Royal North Shore Hospital to conduct lectures and collaborative research on patient delay in seeking treatment for acute myocardial infarction symptoms, and also on heart failure.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 31, 2003) -- Debra Moser, D.N.Sc., professor, University of Kentucky College of Nursing and the Linda C. Gill Chair in Nursing, will visit Australia as a Fulbright Senior Scholar beginning May 2004. Moser will examine the factors that influence heart-failure patients persevering with low-sodium diets while at the University of Western Sydney’s School of Nursing, Family and Community Health. Her studies also will explore ways to improve adherence to such diets, which are often prescribed for those with the heart condition.

Moser also will spend time at the University of Newcastle, University of Technology, St. George Hospital, and Royal North Shore Hospital to conduct lectures and collaborative research on patient delay in seeking treatment for acute myocardial infarction symptoms, and also on heart failure.

“The personal and societal costs of this epidemic are immense,” Moser said. “Treating heart failure is the single largest health care expenditure in the United States.”

The incidence of heart failure is increasing sharply in industrialized nations and is becoming more widespread in developing countries. The cost to treat heart failure in the United States totals more than $50 billion annually. Heart disease is the leading cause of hospitalization for people over the age of 65 in many industrialized countries. Sufferers often experience sharp deteriorations in their conditions and -repeated hospitalizations are common.

“Fluid overload brought about not adhering to the diet prescription is the most common, proximate cause of repeated hospitalizations, yet we don’t know enough about the factors that affect patients’ ability to follow this commonly prescribed measure,” Moser said.

Moser discounts lack of will as a cause of failure to maintain a regime. Lack of knowledge, poor planning, inadequate counseling, financial and cultural factors, and issues of palatability might contribute to failure. Data will help Moser to identify factors that influence a patient’s ability to follow the diet and allow her to determine connections between different levels of adherence and repeated hospitalization rates.

Moser’s work has concentrated on improving care and outcomes for heart-failure patients through optimal care delivery models. She believes the Australian health care system offers nurses many clinical opportunities to improve patient outcomes, and sees her Fulbright project as the beginning of a long-term research collaboration that will allow the partners to perform ground-breaking research on models, which will bring important advances in care for those with heart failure.

The Fulbright Scholar Program gives exceptional scholars and professionals a chance to study and enlarge their knowledge and experience overseas. In the past half-century, more than 250,000 awardees from 140 countries have taken part in the program, established to promote mutual understanding through cultural exchange between the United States and other countries.

Fore more information visit the Fulbright Scholar Program Web site.