The effectiveness of home-based individual tele-care intervention for stroke caregivers in South Korea.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to develop effective intervention programmes that can reduce family caregiver burden as they provide care to stroke patients so that family caregivers can adapt to and deal with the new circumstances from the early stages of stroke. We also intended to verify the effectiveness of the developed programme.


METHODS
This study employed a quasi-experimental design with a repeated-measures analysis. We included five hospitals specialized in stroke care in Seoul Metropolitan areas. Seventy-three patients from these hospitals agreed to participate in this study.


RESULTS
The score of family caregiver burden decreased by 8.07 (±18.67) in the experimental group and increased by 1.65 (±7.47) in the control group, which was a significant difference (t=2.257, P=0.027) between pre- and post-intervention. The family caregiver burden of experimental group was significantly lower than the control group (F=3.649, P=0.033).


CONCLUSIONS
The home-based individual tele-care intervention, in addition to the hospital-based group programme, was cost-effective and supportive in reducing family caregivers' burden by providing relevant information for their needs in timely manner.
Nursing Policy and Research Institute, College of Nursing, Yonsei University, Department of Nursing, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea.
S S
SS
Kim
E J
EJ
Kim
J Y
JY
Cheon
S K
SK
Chung
S
S
Moon
K H
KH
Moon
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003376:Counseling; D006701:Home Nursing; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea; D020521:Stroke / Q000628:therapy*; D013689:Telephone