Determining the Effect of Home Care Training on Anxiety and Depression Levels of Caregivers

Overview

This study was conducted to determine the effects of home care training given to caregivers of patients receiving home care services on the anxiety and depression levels of the caregivers. The study was conducted as a pre-test/post-test, randomized controlled quasi-experimental with a total of 42 patients and caregivers receiving home care services, 21 in the experimental group and 21 in the control group, registered at the Home Health Unit of Kelkit District State Hospital in Gümüşhane province between September 2023 and December 2024. Caregiver Information Form, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and Patient Body Bath Caregiver Follow-up Form were used as data collection tools. The caregivers in the experimental group were asked about which subject they wanted to receive training, and it was determined that they wanted to receive training on in-bed body bath, and patient body bath caregiver training was planned and implemented. No application was made to the caregivers in the control group. SPSS 22 statistical program was used in the analysis of the data and the significance level was accepted as p\<0.05.

The research was conducted in the homes of patients and caregivers who were registered with the Home Health Unit of Kelkit District State Hospital in Gümüşhane province and received home care services. Data collection tools were created between May and August 2023. Research data were collected between September 2023 and December 2024. The research was completed by data analysis and reporting between January and March 2025. The caregivers included in the research sample were listed consecutively according to the order of their application to the Home Health Unit of Kelkit District State Hospital in Gümüşhane province and were divided into experimental (n=23) and control (n=22) groups via the internet using the simple random sampling method. After 3 caregivers did not want to participate in the study, a study was conducted with 42 caregivers (21 experimental, 21 control). The first interview with the experimental (n=21) and control (n=21) groups was conducted face to face at the caregivers' homes, and a pre-test was conducted after the written consent form was obtained from the caregivers who agreed to participate in the study. In the pre-test application, the BVBF, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory were filled out. A second interview was conducted to determine the issues that the caregivers in the experimental group had difficulty with, experienced stress, felt the need for training, and wanted to receive training during care practices, and it was found that the majority of the caregivers wanted to receive patient bed bath training.After the second interview, bed bath training was planned for the caregivers of the patients in the experimental group, the training content and patient body bath caregiver follow-up forms were created, and the created training plan was sent for expert opinion in terms of suitability. After the expert opinion was received, a third interview was planned with the caregivers of the patients in the experimental group, during the interview, the caregivers were asked to apply body bath to the patient, the caregiver was observed while applying body bath to the patient, and in order to evaluate the incomplete/faulty practices of the caregiver during the application, the HVBBVİF was filled in by the researcher while the caregiver was performing the application. 1 week after the third interview, the 4th interview was conducted with the caregivers of the patients in the experimental group, and the bed bath training was demonstrated and applied by the researcher to the patient's caregiver. 1 week after the fourth interview, the 5th interview was conducted with the caregivers of the patients in the experimental group, and the HVBBVİF was filled in by the researcher while the caregiver was performing body bath to the patient, and the incomplete/faulty practices were corrected by the researcher with immediate feedback. Two weeks after the 5th interview, the 6th interview was conducted with the caregivers of the patients in the experimental group, the caregiver applied the bed bath to the patient, and the HVBBVİF was filled in by the researcher. One week after the sixth interview, the 7th interview was conducted with the experimental and control groups, and for the post-test application, the "BVBF", "Beck Anxiety Inventory", and "Beck Depression Inventory" were filled in again.