多元介入計畫對急性期中風患者的非正式照顧者之心理健康成效探討

Abstract

中風是一個會導致嚴重失能且需長期照護之疾病，而中風患者的非正式照顧者的相關議題卻常被忽略，本研究關注的非正式照顧者之心理健康狀況包含壓力、負荷、焦慮、憂鬱與生活品質等議題，透過美國心臟醫學會之照顧者指引的建議來設計多元介入計畫內容與方式，利用結構化的設計來給予急性期中風患者之非正式照顧者適切的衛教內容增進急性期中風患者來促進非正式照顧者的心理健康狀態，也讓非正式照顧者有持續照顧的可能。本研究採準實驗設計共招募46位非正式照顧者隨機分配到實驗組與對照組並介入非正式照顧者的心理健康狀態一個月並追蹤達三個月後進行統計分析，比較其壓力、負荷、焦慮、憂鬱與生活品質等向度是否對非正式照顧者的心理健康狀態有影響。研究結果顯示，經多元介入計畫介入後實驗組與對照組在壓力、負荷、焦慮、憂鬱與生活品質等變項，可能受限收案人數過少而使統計檢力未達顯著差異程度，但未來仍需進一步研究與規劃，使非正式照顧者之心理健康議題能被重視與關注，並發展台灣版中風患者之非正式照顧者相關照顧指引。

Stroke is a disease that may cause severe disability and needs long-term care. Yet, the mental health issues of stroke patients’ informal caregivers are often overlooked. This study aims to focus on the mental health issues of informal caregivers, including strain, burden, anxiety, depression, and quality of life. These informal caregivers were given a multiple intervention program developed according to the guidelines of American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. This structured multiple intervention program aims to promote the mental health of informal caregivers, giving them the possibility to continue caring stroke patients.46 informal caregivers were randomly assigned to experimental group and control group. Multiple intervention program was given to the experimental group for 1 month. A 3 months’ follow-ups were conducted after the intervention to compare the mental health outcomes, including strain, burden, anxiety, depression, and quality of life, between two groups. Our results showed that after the intervention program, mental health outcomes, including strain, burden, anxiety, depression, and quality of life, did not have significant differences between the experimental group and the control group. The lack of statistical significance maybe due to the small sample size. Future studies need to investigate on this area, so as to emphasize the importance of mental health issues of stroke patients’ informal caregivers, and to develop a Taiwanese guideline for these caregivers.