Klemm Paula R, Hayes Evelyn R, Diefenbeck Cynthia A, Milcarek Barry
Author Affiliations: School of Nursing, University of Delaware (Drs Klemm, Hayes, and Diefenbeck); and College of Health Sciences & Delaware Rehabilitation Institute, 25 N. College Ave. University of Delaware (Dr Milcarek), Newark, DE.
Comput Inform Nurs. 2014 Jan;32(1):10-20. doi: 10.1097/CIN.0000000000000009.
The overall objectives of this project were to evaluate whether psychosocial outcomes in employed family caregivers of people with chronic disease, who participate in online support, differ from nonactive participants and whether psychosocial outcomes differ based on the format of online group support. A randomized longitudinal design comparing two types of online support groups and nonactive participants, on the basis of three principal measures, was utilized. Eighty-six self-reported family caregivers of people with chronic disease, who spoke English and had Internet access, took part in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to professionally facilitated/psychoeducational or moderated/peer-directed online support groups for a period of 12 weeks. The setting was a password-protected Web page housed on a university server. Independent variables were type of online support groups and level of participation; the dependent variables were depressive symptoms, caregiver burden, and caregiver quality of life. There were significant differences in depressive symptoms and quality of life among nonactive participants and either of the two intervention groups, but not between the two intervention groups. Results suggest that professionally facilitated/psychoeducational and moderated/peer-directed online support groups help reduce depressive symptoms and improve quality of life for those who actively participate and that both types of online support groups provided similar benefits. Men and minorities should be targeted in future caregiver research.
本项目的总体目标是评估参与在线支持的慢性病患者在职家庭照料者的心理社会结果是否与不活跃参与者不同，以及心理社会结果是否因在线团体支持的形式而异。采用了一种随机纵向设计，基于三项主要指标，比较两种类型的在线支持小组和不活跃参与者。86名自称是慢性病患者的家庭照料者参与了研究，他们讲英语且能上网。受试者被随机分配到专业指导/心理教育或主持/同伴导向的在线支持小组，为期12周。研究环境是大学服务器上一个受密码保护的网页。自变量是在线支持小组的类型和参与程度；因变量是抑郁症状、照料者负担和照料者生活质量。不活跃参与者与两个干预组中的任何一组在抑郁症状和生活质量上存在显著差异，但两个干预组之间没有差异。结果表明，专业指导/心理教育和主持/同伴导向的在线支持小组有助于减少积极参与者的抑郁症状并改善生活质量，且两种类型的在线支持小组提供的益处相似。未来的照料者研究应针对男性和少数群体。
