Abstract:

Objective To observe the effect of the health education and skills training for caregivers on health status of stroke patients and their family caregivers. Methods Hospitalized stroke patients were divided into the intervention group (n=38) and the control group (n= 36). Both groups received rehabilitation training for 1 month in hospital. The family caregivers of intervention group received Timing It Right education and skills training in addition. All the patients were assessed with the European Stroke Scale (ESS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), simple Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), modified Barthel Index (MBI), and the caregivers were assessed with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) before and 3 months after intervention. Results The scores of ESS, FMA, MBI improved more in intervention group than in the control group after intervention (P<0.05), as well as their caregivers in the items of playing a useful part, under stress, overcoming difficulties, enjoying normal activities, facing up to problems, feeling unhappy and depressed, lossing confidence, thinking of self as worth of GHQ-12 (P<0.05). Conclusion Health education and skills training for family caregivers can improve the health of caregivers, and further improve the function outcome of stroke patients.

Key words: stroke, caregiver, health status, health education