Intervention to improve social and family support for caregivers of dependent patients: ICIAS study protocol

Abstract

BackgroundDespite the existence of formal professional support services, informal support (mainly family members) continues to be the main source of eldercare, especially for those who are dependent or disabled. Professionals on the primary health care are the ideal choice to educate, provide psychological support, and help to mobilize social resources available to the informal caregiver.Controversy remains concerning the efficiency of multiple interventions, taking a holistic approach to both the patient and caregiver, and optimum utilization of the available community resources. .For this reason our goal is to assess whether an intervention designed to improve the social support for caregivers effectively decreases caregivers burden and improves their quality of life.Methods/designDesign: Controlled, multicentre, community intervention trial, with patients and their caregivers randomized to the intervention or control group according to their assigned Primary Health Care Team (PHCT).Study area: Primary Health Care network (9 PHCTs).Study participants: Primary informal caregivers of patients receiving home health care from participating PHCTs.Sample: Required sample size is 282 caregivers (141 from PHCTs randomized to the intervention group and 141 from PHCTs randomized to the control group.Intervention: a) PHCT professionals: standardized training to implement caregivers intervention. b) Caregivers: 1 individualized counselling session, 1 family session, and 4 educational group sessions conducted by participating PHCT professionals; in addition to usual home health care visits, periodic telephone follow-up contact and unlimited telephone support.Control: Caregivers and dependent patients: usual home health care, consisting of bimonthly scheduled visits, follow-up as needed, and additional attention upon request.Data analysisDependent variables: Caregiver burden (short-form Zarit test), caregivers’ social support (Medical Outcomes Study), and caregivers’ reported quality of life (SF-12)Independent variables: a) Caregiver: sociodemographic data, Goldberg Scale, Apgar family questionnaire, Holmes and Rahe Psychosocial Stress Scale, number of chronic diseases. b) Dependent patient: sociodemographic data, level of dependency (Barthel Index), cognitive impairment (Pfeiffer test).DiscussionIf the intervention intended to improve social and family support is effective in reducing the burden on primary informal caregivers of dependent patients, this model can be readily applied throughout usual PHCT clinical practice.Trial registrationClinical trials registrar: NCT02065427

Living environment, social support, and informal caregiving are associated with healthcare seeking behaviour and adherence to medication treatment: A cross‐sectional population study

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Health and wellbeing in informal caregivers and non-caregivers: a comparative cross-sectional study of the Swedish general population

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Magnitud de efecto de un programa dirigido a cuidadores familiares de personas con enfermedad crónica

“…Estos hallazgos aportan a la prueba del supuesto del modelo para abordar la carga del cuidado de la ECNT, que postula una relación inversa entre la habilidad de cuidado y la sobrecarga del cuidador. Se puede decir que el componente interpersonal tiene mucha relación con otra variable que es el soporte social y familiar y se ha encontrado que disminuye la ansiedad y la posibilidad de angustia y estrés en el cuidador (28)(29)(30)(31).…”