Strategies for Optimizing Heart Failure Care in the Older Adults
Updated: June 18, 2026
- Heart failure (HF) in older adults is a growing and distinct clinical challenge, yet proven therapies—especially guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT)—remain underused despite evidence that older patients can benefit.
- Care for older adults with HF must go beyond standard treatment algorithms, accounting for frailty, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, cognitive/physical function, social needs, and patient goals through shared decision-making.
- The paper advocates a practical, multidimensional care model that includes domain-based assessment, deprescribing when appropriate, early advance care planning, specialist/palliative care referral, and system-level tools to improve equitable GDMT implementation.
Supporting Materials
Recommended Reading
- Cardiogenic Shock in Older Adults
- Palliative Pharmacotherapy for Cardiovascular Disease
- Management of Acute Coronary Syndrome in the Older Adult Population
- Telehealth and Health Equity in Older Adults With Heart Failure
- Preventing and Managing Falls in Adults With Cardiovascular Disease
- Addressing Social Determinants of Health in the Care of Patients With Heart Failure
- Knowledge Gaps in Cardiovascular Care of the Older Adult Population
- Congenital Heart Disease in the Older Adult
- 2022 Guideline for the Management of Heart Failure