The effects of an empowerment program on the power perception of caregivers of chronic psychology patients at Baan Nong Hin Mahasarakham province

Abstract

The aim of this Quasi – Experimental study was to study and compare the effects of an empowerment program on the power perception of caregivers of chronic psychology patients in the community. The sample group was 30 family caregivers, within Baan Nong Hin, Khok Kor district, Maeung, Mahasarakham province by purposive sampling. The tools of the study include the empowerment program, which researcher created and modified the questionnaire base on Gibson model. It has been verified content validity by 3 experts (IOC=1). They were assessed a personal information interview form and the power of caregiver’s perception questionnaire, which Cronbach’s alpha reliability was 0.92. The tools was divided into 4 sections; 1) Knowledge-seeking of caregivers of chronic mental illness in the community 2) The ability of caregivers to care for chronic mental illness in the community 3) Satisfaction in their ability to care for chronic mentally ill patients in the community 4) Building community participation in taking care of chronic mental illness in the community. The participants were 11 males and 19 females, age between 31-60 years. They mostly graduated at primary and high school (46.66%). They are farmers (70%) and married (63.33%). Their incomes are 5,000-10,000 bath/month (63.33%). The caregiver’s experiences about 6-10 years (43.33%) and they are cousins and relative (40.00%). Participants joined the empowerment program once per week for 5 weeks, comprising Week 1: relationship building and motivation, Week 2: care of people with chronic mental illness, Week 3: critical reflection, Week 4: deciding on a course of action and activities that suit themselves, Week 5: maintaining effective practice. The data were analyzed by finding frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Using the Paired t-test statistics to compare the results before and after the 5 weeks program. The results showed that the power of caregiver’s perception increases significantly in 4 sections after the 5-week empowerment program.

As a result, the caregivers perceive their own power in caring for chronic psychologic patients more positively.