The Effects of a Multidisciplinary Supportive Program on Caregiver Burden among the Family Caregivers of Patients with Advanced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Randomized Controlled Field Trial

Abstract

10.30699/jambs.29.135.206 Background & Objective: The family caregivers of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience heavy caregiver burden (CB). This study investigated the effects of a multidisciplinary supportive program on CB in the family caregivers of patients with advanced COPD. Materials & Methods: This randomized field trial was conducted in the pulmonary subspecialty clinic of Birjand University of Medical Sciences, in 2019. In the present study, 92 eligible family caregivers of COPD patients were randomly allocated into intervention and control groups. The study intervention included eight sessions. Three educational sessions on COPD were held by a pulmonary disease specialist and an experienced nurse in COPD care, two educational sessions were held on coping strategies by a psychiatric nurse and three peer support sessions. CB was assessed before, immediately after and two months after the study intervention. SPSS (v. 21.0) was used for data analysis. Results: CB significantly decreased in the intervention group (P=0.01). It did not change significantly in the control group (P=0.63). Between-group differences, with respect to the mean score of CB at the baseline (P=0.66) and the first posttest (P=0.72) were not significant. The mean score of CB in the second posttest was significantly lower in the intervention group, compared to the control group (P=0.007). Conclusion: Multidisciplinary supportive program is effective in reducing CB among the family caregivers of patients with advanced COPD.

Interventions to Reduce Caregiver Burden Among Caregivers of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Patients: A Scoping Review

“…In terms of the effectiveness of diminishing caregiver burden, supportive training programs were found to be helpful among caregivers of CKD patients as stated in past studies by Bahrami et al (2019) and Chan et al (2016). Likewise, supportive-approach interventions are effective to be applied amongst the caregivers of multidisciplinary diseases as evidence existed, supporting the positive findings as reported by Arbabi et al (2021), Etemadifar et al (2014), Farahani et al (2021), and Rezaee et al (2017) among the caregivers of heart failure, stroke, Thalassemia disorder, and chronic lung disease. Caregiving is a very stressful and demanding responsibility (Ghane et al, 2016); therefore, through the implementation of supportive interventions such as counseling and support groups, caregivers can share their thoughts and experiences with the experts and/or a group of people with similar experiences as well as morally support each other to cope with the caregiving role.…”