acute hospital settings do not provide the ideal care environment for older patients with heart failure ( hf ) . a european integrated home - care model has been developed with the goals that patients will experience participation , safety and have knowledge about their disease and treatment . to describe the meaning of participation in care of hf patients who receive home - care . strategic sampling was used to reach a variation regarding severity of hf , different needs of home - care , age and gender . the interviews were analyzed with qualitative content analysis , where categories were developed inductively . a preliminary analysis based on nine out of 18 interviews has been initiated . five preliminary categories that describe patient participation have been identified : caring communication , accessibility , individual activity , trust and prerequisites for making decisions . significance of the study : participation in care is regulated in health - care legalizations and is important from the individual s perspective . therefore it is important to describe hf patient s experiences of participation within home - care .