Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2016 Jul;25(7):795-802.
doi: 10.1002/pon.4004. Epub 2015 Oct 9.

Short-term and long-term effects of a psycho-educational group intervention for family caregivers in palliative home care - results from a randomized control trial

Maja Holm  1   2 , Kristofer Årestedt  3 , Ida Carlander  2   4 , Carl-Johan Fürst  5 , Yvonne Wengström  1   6 , Joakim Öhlen  2   7 , Anette Alvariza  1   2   8
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Short-term and long-term effects of a psycho-educational group intervention for family caregivers in palliative home care - results from a randomized control trial

Maja Holm et al. Psychooncology. 2016 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Family caregivers in cancer and palliative care often face heavy responsibilities and feel insufficiently prepared for the situation as caregivers. This study evaluates short-term and long-term effects of a psycho-educational group intervention aiming to increase preparedness for family caregiving in specialized palliative home care.

Methods: The study design was a randomized control trial where family caregivers were allocated either to an intervention or control group. The intervention was delivered as a program including three sessions by health professionals (physician, nurse, and social worker/priest). Family caregivers from 10 specialized palliative home care settings were included. Questionnaires with validated instruments at baseline, upon completion, and 2 months following the intervention were used to measure effects of the intervention. The primary outcome was preparedness for caregiving in family caregivers.

Results: In total, 21 intervention programs were delivered, and 119 family caregivers completed all three measurements. The intervention group had significantly increased their preparedness for caregiving in both the short-term and long-term follow-up compared with the control group. The intervention group also reported significantly increased competence for caregiving in short-term but not long. No effects of the intervention were found on rewards for caregiving, caregiver burden, health, anxiety, or depression.

Conclusions: The psycho-educational intervention has the potential to be used by health professionals to improve preparedness for caregiving among family caregivers in palliative care both in short and long terms. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources