The effects of family-centered empowerment model on depression, anxiety, and stress of the family caregivers of patients with COVID-19: a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Background Taking care of patients with Covid-19 is regarded as a challenging task for family caregivers. Hence, a Family-Centered Empowerment Model (FCEM) should help them achieve greater psychological strength throughout the home healthcare process. Methods This study is a randomized clinical trial with two groups; besides, pre-test and post-test designs were conducted based on the CONSORT checklist from April to July 2020, in Iran. Seventy family caregivers were randomly assigned to FCEM (n = 35) and control (n = 35) groups. Then, four stages of FCEM in four online sessions were provided to the participants of the intervention group via WhatsApp messenger. The procedure started at the patient's discharge and continued for two weeks. The demographic information questionnaire and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) were employed before and five days after the FCEM sessions to gather the required data. Results The sample was made up of 55.8% women and 44.2% men caregivers, with a mean age of 42.5 years. The results demonstrated a substantial difference in the average score of stress (p = 0.023), anxiety (p = 0.003), and depression (p = 0.012). Conclusions The combination of a face-to-face orientation session and online methods of FCEM is likely to lower stress, anxiety, and depression in family caregivers, which can be contributed to the practicability, simplicity, and effectiveness of this home health intervention. Trial registration This study (no. IRCT20180429039463N2) was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials on 10/04/2020.

Psychological distress as a predictor of the burden of care in family caregivers of COVID‐19 patients in Iran: A community‐based cross‐sectional study

“…The results of previous research by Mirzaei et al 15 also showed that approximately 80% of caregivers of COVID‐19 patients reported a severe level of care burden. A possible reason for the difference in outcomes is the increased awareness of those who care and support their family members who have COVID‐19 because of online group support, 20,30 community‐wide information, and social media. Obtaining such a finding in the present study indicates the positive effect of these interventions; however, there is still a need to implement appropriate interventions to reduce the burden of caring for someone with COVID‐19 within the community and network of caregivers.…”

“…The DASS-21 is a standard scale whose options are scored from 0 to 3. In this tool, seven items related to stress symptoms (2,6,8,11,12,14,18), seven items related to anxiety symptoms (1,4,7,7,15,19,20), and seven items related to depression symptoms (3,5,10,13,16,17,21). Scores 0-4 are mild, 5-11 are moderate, and more than 12 indicate severe psychological symptoms.…”

“…Care is individualized because of the different severities of COVID-19 and the importance of factors such as safety, limit distance between clinical staff and family near the patient within the hospitals for example. On the other hand, even though about a long time has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic started, a limited number of studies have been conducted to evaluate the psychological and dimensions of care of family caregivers of patients with COVID-19 [18][19][20] and most studies have focused on caring problems in health workers like nurses and hospital caregivers. Therefore, the current study investigated the predictor factors of care burden in family caregivers of patients with COVID-19.…”

Effectiveness of family centred interventions for family caregivers: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…and 10 studies were conducted by nurses. In addition, all the interventions were delivered in an offline format, except for one study in which the intervention used a combination of offline meetings and a mobile application (Nia et al, 2022). Eight studies (Dardouri et al, 2020;Deyhoul et al, 2020;Etemadifar et al, 2018;Izadpanah et al, 2021;Mohammadzadeh et al, 2022;Nia et al, 2022;Rabiei et al, 2020;Yeh et al, 2016) adopted the family centred empowerment model (FCEM)…”

Comparing the Effects of Warm Footbath and Foot Reflexology on the Fatigue of Patients Undergoing Radiotherapy: A Randomized Clinical Trial

“…7 Patients themselves must practice many non-pharmacological methods to improve their autonomy. [8][9][10] Non-pharmacological methods have fewer side effects and negative consequences than pharmacological treatments 11,12 ; the most widely used non-pharmacological methods are hydrotherapy, biofeedback, aromatherapy, meditation, massage, and acupuncture. 13,14 People usually use hydrotherapy for their relaxation and protection of their health.…”