The Effect of Ostomy Care Education Applied With the Teach-Back Method to Ostomy-Opened Individuals on Self-Care Power, Ostomy Adjustment, and Anxiety

Overview

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of ostomy care education-delivered to patients who have undergone ostomy surgery using the Teach-back method on patients' self-care ability, ostomy compliance, and anxiety levels.

An ostomy is a surgical procedure performed to allow waste products to be expelled from the body through a different route. This procedure, which can be either permanent or temporary, is typically performed in cases such as colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases, or bladder cancer. The number of patients with ostomies is increasing day by day, both worldwide and in our country. Because an ostomy leads to significant changes in a person's life, patient education is of critical importance for patients who have undergone ostomy surgery. Education aims to help patients understand changes in their health status, improve their adherence to treatment, and enhance their quality of life. Among modern educational methods, approaches such as mobile apps, virtual reality, and the "Teach-back" method are gaining prominence. The "Teach-back" method is based on having patients express what they have learned in their own words and is an effective learning strategy. It involves a questioning process to determine what the individual has understood from the interaction. If the instructor believes that the learner has not understood the topic or has understood it incompletely, the training process is repeated. The process is completed when the learner understands the topic and provides the correct answer. Self-care is conceptualized as a series of activities that individuals undertake to maintain, improve, or enhance their overall health. Individuals need motivation, experiential knowledge, and skills to engage in the behaviors necessary to maintain and improve their health and quality of life, and all of these are fundamentally based on the principle of self-care. There are many positive outcomes to using education to provide higher-quality care to patients. Patients with ostomies may struggle to accept their ostomy and their new way of life, as well as to adapt to this situation, due to changes in their physical appearance and psychosocial challenges. Through education and counseling, nurses can help patients become better informed and manage their ostomy care independently, thereby improving their ability to adapt. The most common causes of anxiety are a lack of information and fear of the unknown. In individuals who have undergone ostomy surgery, it has been observed that anxiety levels decrease when this uncertainty is addressed through education. Developing self-care skills in individuals with ostomies and supporting their physical and psychosocial adjustment are among the core care functions of nurses. It is expected that providing education will reduce patients' anxiety levels while improving their ostomy adjustment and self-care abilities. The literature contains a limited number of research findings on the effects of education provided using the "Tell Me What You've Learned" method in different patient groups. However, no studies have been found specifically examining the effects of education provided using this method in patients with ostomies. It is believed that studies on the effects of education provided using the "Tell Me What You Learned" method in patients who have undergone ostomy surgery will make significant contributions to the literature.