The effect of a social support program on the psychological well-being among caregivers of schizophrenia patients
Keywords:
social support program, psychological well-being, caregivers, schizophreniaAbstract
Caregivers play a vital role in supporting individuals with schizophrenia, enabling them to lead fulfilling lives within society. However, the prolonged caregiving process can lead to feelings of fatigue and burden, negatively impacting the caregiver’s psychological well-being. So, this quasi-experimental study aimed to evaluate the effect of a social support program on the psychological well-being among caregivers of schizophrenia patients. The study involved 52 caregivers, who were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (26 participants) or a control group (26 participants). The experimental group participated in a social support program consisting of six sessions, each lasting 60–90 minutes, held twice a week over three weeks. In contrast, the control group received standard care. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, a psychological well-being questionnaire (reliability=0.94), and the social support program. Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, two-way repeated measures ANOVA, and pairwise comparisons with the Bonferroni method were used for data analysis. The results indicated that the mean psychological well-being scores for the experimental group at post-test and the 4-week follow-up were significantly higher than those of the control group (p=0.01). Furthermore, within the experimental group, psychological well-being scores showed significant improvement at pre-test, post-test, and follow-up (p=0.001). These findings suggest that healthcare professionals may consider implementing this program to enhance the psychological well-being among caregivers of schizophrenia patients.
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