Family-focused intervention
The family-focused intervention was given in addition to the conventional treatment and care provided for patients with AF. The intervention was delivered based on the theoretical framework of family nursing, the Calgary Models and the Illness Belief Model [Patients and family members were offered the family-focused intervention according to their needs during a period of one to two months. Because the components in the intervention were tailored individually it was not possible to standardise the dose of the intervention. We did not exclude patients if they could not attend with a family member because the framework implicates a family perspective on how illness impacts the patients and the family, whether or not a family member is present [The family-focused intervention comprised of a two-hour group education and 1–3 family nursing therapeutic conversations (FNTCs) delivered within two months. The intervention was considered delivered when patients and family members had participated in minimum one element of the intervention components (two-hour group session and or minimum one FNTCs).Instead of a standard two-hour group education for patients with AF, intervention group families were first offered a two-hour educational family group session adapted to the theoretical framework of family nursing [