Management of instestinal stomas: knowledge of the caregiver

Abstract

Keywords: Caregivers, Ostomy, Knowledge, Health Education, Health Personnel. A patient with a stoma and the caregiver face daily challenges in adapting the stoma and its accessories, requiring professional support to handle the difficulties. This study aimed to describe the knowledge of the caregiver of patients with a stoma on the management of the condition. This study had an exploratory, descriptive, and quantitative approach that was developed with 134 caregivers of patients with stomas through a semi-structured questionnaire. Regarding the knowledge variables, 59.7% said that the stoma was created due to a disease (cancer). Most of the caregivers had correct answers regarding aspects related to the natural aspects of the stoma. The primary responses regarding adjuvants for the elimination of intestinal stomas were that most caregivers (56%) were unaware of these products. When the interviewees were questioned about the specific knowledge of some products, the percentage of negative responses ranged from 70 to 85.8%. Regarding the correct management of stomas, most of them do not have the essential knowledge to provide quality care. It is necessary to develop educational interventions, such as the preparation and validation of booklets, training workshops, and conversation wheels to increase the knowledge of caregivers regarding the correct management of the stomas and to involve them in the process of caring for safety and autonomy.

Biosociodemographic and Digital Profile of Participants in an Online Educational Intervention on Colostomy

“…The mean age of 41.9 years corroborates with a previous study 19 . As for education, close results were found for middle and higher levels, contrary to those found in the literature, in which most participants had less than eight years of schooling 19 . A study points out the need to identify the educational level for adaptations in the transfer of guidelines on health education to facilitate the understanding by the individual 19 .…”

“…The open (drainable) and one-piece systems predominated concerning the collection equipment. The type of collection equipment is corroborated in a study carried out with patients enrolled in an assistance program for people with stomas in Teresina, in which the drainable one-piece collection equipment was the most distributed and presented a significant association with the monthly cost, as the two-piece bag was more expensive, showing a relationship with increased costs 19 .…”

“…This finding aligns with the results of other studies. 14,19,20 , in which the presence of the stoma impacts the socioeconomic context 20 . Study shows improvement in the biopsychological aspect and quality of life associated with higher income 14 .…”

“…Among caregivers, women were predominant, in line with findings in the literature. 6,19 . The mean age of 41.9 years corroborates with a previous study 19 .…”

“…6,19 . The mean age of 41.9 years corroborates with a previous study 19 . As for education, close results were found for middle and higher levels, contrary to those found in the literature, in which most participants had less than eight years of schooling 19 .…”