Short-term effects of a group support program and an individual support program for caregivers of stroke patients

Caregivers of stroke patients who live at home experience many problems. Th ere is evidence from the literature that caregivers' situations can be impr oved by teaching them active coping strategies and by offering them informa tion about the disease. This study investigated the short-term effects of t wo different interventions both with the same contents, and both aimed at e nhancing caregivers' confidence in knowledge, active coping strategies, men tal well-being, vitality, social support, assertiveness, and at reducing st rain. In addition, we investigated which type of support, i.e. a group prog ram or home visits, had the most positive effects. Caregivers of stroke pat ients from four regions of the Netherlands were assigned in blocks to a con trol group or one of the intervention programs. To the group program 130 ca regivers were assigned, to the home visits 78 caregivers, and to the contro l group 49 caregivers. Caregivers were interviewed before entering the prog ram and after completion of the program. Multiple stepwise regression analy sis was used to determine the effects of the interventions. In the short-te rm, both interventions (group program and home visits together) contributed significantly to an increase in confidence in knowledge about patient care , and the use of the active coping strategies 'confronting' and 'seeking so cial support'. The group program achieved a small increase in seeking socia l support. When only taking into account those caregivers that followed a s ubstantial part of the program (per protocol group) also a medium effect wa s found from both interventions on perceived self efficacy. When comparing the group program and the home visits, no significant differences in effect s were found. The results of the program are considered encouraging. We rec ommend implementation of more intervention programs that focus on coping an d providing information. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.