Effect of Home Accidents Prevention and First aids Training Program on Elderly Caregivers' Knowledge and Practices

Abstract

Background: Safety is a major concern when providing care for elderly as they are more susceptible to accidents and injuries than younger adults, So most home injuries can be prevented through elderly caregivers training regarding home safety measures and first aids practices. Aim: Evaluate the effect of home accidents prevention and first aids training program on elderly caregivers' knowledge and practices. Design: A Quasi-Experimental design (one group pre/post design) will be used in this study. Setting: The study was carried out at Geriatric Outpatient Clinics in the Specialized Medical Hospital that affiliated to Mansoura University and in General Hospital that affiliated to the Ministry of health at Mansoura City. Subjects: This study was carried out on 50 elderly caregivers whose selected from the previously mentioned setting Tools: Three tools were used in this study; Elderly caregivers' demographic data structured interview schedule, Elderly caregivers' home accidents prevention and first aids knowledge structured interview schedule and Elderly caregivers' first aids practices observational checklist Results: The study revealed that, about half of elderly caregivers fluctuated from 30 to less than 45 years, with the mean age of 39.60 ± 10.95 years and female were constituted four fifth of them. Moreover, significant improvement in elderly caregivers total knowledge scores regarding home accident prevention and first aids and in total practices scores regarding first aids in dealing with both fainting, fracture, bleeding ,wound , electrical accidents ,poisoning, choking, gas suffocation and burn were detected after implementation of the training program (P=0.000). Conclusion: The developed home accidents prevention and first aids training program proved to be effective in improving knowledge and practices of elderly caregivers. Recommendations: The developed home accidents prevention and first aids booklet should be distributed to all elderly caregivers attending geriatric outpatient clinics at Mansoura city through the responsible personal to raise their knowledge and practices.