THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION ON QUALITY OF LIFE, PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING, SELF-EFFICACY AND SOCIAL SUPPORT OF HOME CAREGIVERS OF PEOPLE WITH ADVANCED CANCER IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

AIMS: TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A PSYCHOEDUCATION INTERVENTION, ENTITLED `CARING FOR THE CAREGIVER PROGRAMME (CCP)?, FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF A PERSON WITH ADVANCED CANCER.

METHOD: A PILOT RANDOMISED CONTROL TRIAL WITH TWO-GROUP PRE AND POSTTEST DESIGN WAS USED TO EVALUATE THE IMPACTS OF CCP. EIGHTY PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMISED TO THE STANDARD CARE GROUP (N=42), AND INTERVENTION GROUP (N=38). OUTCOMES WERE MEASURED AT BASELINE, 4TH WEEK, AND 8TH WEEK, WHICH INCLUDED CAREGIVERS? QOL, SOCIAL SUPPORT, STRESS AND DEPRESSION, CLOSENESS WITH PATIENT, SELF-EFFICACY IN SELF-CARE, REWARDS OF CAREGIVING, AND KNOWLEDGE. TWELVE PARTICIPANTS FROM THE INTERVENTION GROUP WERE SELECTED FOR A QUALITATIVE PROCESS EVALUATION AT 8TH WEEK.

RESULTS: COMPARED WITH THE STANDARD CARE GROUP, THE INTERVENTION GROUP HAD SIGNIFICANT BETTER IMPROVEMENT FROM BASELINE TO POSTTEST 2 IN ALL OUTCOMES MEASURED.

CONCLUSIONS: THE CCP HAD POSITIVE IMPACTS ON FAMILY CAREGIVERS OF A PERSON WITH AD