Tsai Pei-Chun, Yip Ping-Keung, Tai John Jen, Lou Meei-Fang
School of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
School of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Patient Prefer Adherence. 2015 Mar 18;9:449-57. doi: 10.2147/PPA.S77713. eCollection 2015.
After a stroke, patients often suffer from varying degrees of disability that require acute inpatient treatment and extended care at home. Therefore, the caregivers assume multiple responsibilities that can result in stress, particularly when their own needs are inadequately addressed during the patient's recovery.
This study aimed to explore the changing needs of family caregivers of stroke patients and factors related to the needs in four stages, before the transfer from intensive care unit to neurological unit, before discharge, 2 weeks post-hospitalization, and 3 months post-hospitalization.
The design of this study was based on longitudinal research, and the participants were family caregivers of stroke patients. Sixty family caregivers were recruited in this study. Data were collected at four time points by questionnaire.
We found that the total number of needs of family caregivers decreased as the illness duration increased and that needs differed significantly between the four time points (P<0.01). Although the needs were different in each stage, health information, professional support, and community networks were the leading need domains in all four stages. The major factors affecting the care needs of family caregivers were the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores of patients on admission, length of hospital stay, and physical dependence of patients.
Family caregivers expected to obtain assistance and related care information from professionals during the course of the disease. Assessing the needs of family caregivers is important for health care workers in understanding problems from the caregivers' perspectives. Relevant information and counseling should be provided to family caregivers to help them access support when needed.
中风后，患者常伴有不同程度的残疾，需要急性住院治疗及长期居家护理。因此，照料者承担着多项责任，这可能导致压力，尤其是当患者康复期间自身需求未得到充分满足时。
本研究旨在探讨中风患者家庭照料者在四个阶段（从重症监护病房转至神经科病房前、出院前、出院后2周、出院后3个月）需求的变化及与需求相关的因素。
本研究采用纵向研究设计，参与者为中风患者的家庭照料者。本研究招募了60名家庭照料者。通过问卷调查在四个时间点收集数据。
我们发现，家庭照料者的需求总数随着病程延长而减少，且四个时间点的需求存在显著差异（P<0.01）。尽管每个阶段的需求不同，但健康信息、专业支持和社区网络在所有四个阶段都是主要的需求领域。影响家庭照料者护理需求的主要因素是患者入院时的美国国立卫生研究院卒中量表评分、住院时间和患者的身体依赖程度。
家庭照料者期望在疾病过程中从专业人员那里获得帮助及相关护理信息。评估家庭照料者的需求对于医护人员从照料者角度理解问题很重要。应向家庭照料者提供相关信息和咨询，以帮助他们在需要时获得支持。
