School of Medicine, University of Phayao, Phayao, Thailand.
School of Public Health, University of Phayao, Phayao, Thailand.
PLoS One. 2021 Nov 30;16(11):e0259697. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259697. eCollection 2021.
Hypertension is becoming increasingly prevalent among the elderly. Family caregivers play an important role in caring for elderly people and empowering them to care for themselves. This study's goal was to see how social support training for family caregivers affected changes in hypertension, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and how such support led to the prevention of hypertension behaviors among the elderly in rural areas. This was a quasi-experimental study with 268 elderly people at risk of hypertension and their caregivers. Sixty seven pairs of elderly people and their caregivers were assigned to the intervention and control groups. Baseline data were collected in November 2020. The intervention group received the Social Support Family Caregiver Training Program (SSFCTP), while the control group received a regular program from the local health authority. The activity lasted 12 weeks, with home visits and telephone check-ups along the way, and data collection took place after the program ended. The final data were collected three months after the end of the intervention. An analysis of repeated measures ANOVA showed the overall effect of the SSFCTP on knowledge, self-efficacy, health care behaviors, and blood pressure among elderly people during three different time periods (p<0.05). Furthermore, the intervention program had a time-dependent effect on knowledge, blood pressure, and total cholesterol levels (p<0.05). In terms of caregiver outcomes, there was an overall difference among the degrees of knowledge, self-efficacy, and behaviors toward health care displayed by elderly hypertensive patients during the three different time periods (p<0.05). The average knowledge and self-efficacy of the participants improved after the intervention. As a result, better self-care behaviors and lower blood pressure and total cholesterol levels were observed among the elderly participants after the intervention. The programs emphasized the importance of caregivers' roles in providing social support, boosting confidence, and encouraging participation in caring, monitoring, and assisting the elderly in controlling blood pressure and other health issues.
高血压在老年人中越来越普遍。家庭照顾者在照顾老年人和赋予他们自我照顾能力方面发挥着重要作用。本研究的目的是观察家庭照顾者社会支持培训如何影响高血压、总胆固醇和高密度脂蛋白（HDL）的变化，以及这种支持如何预防农村地区老年人的高血压行为。这是一项针对 268 名有高血压风险的老年人及其照顾者的准实验研究。将 67 对老年人及其照顾者分为干预组和对照组。于 2020 年 11 月收集基线数据。干预组接受社会支持家庭照顾者培训计划（SSFCTP），对照组接受当地卫生部门的常规计划。活动持续 12 周，期间进行家访和电话随访，在项目结束后进行数据收集。在干预结束三个月后收集最终数据。重复测量方差分析的结果显示，SSFCTP 在三个不同时期对老年人的知识、自我效能、保健行为和血压的总体影响（p<0.05）。此外，干预方案对知识、血压和总胆固醇水平具有时间依赖性影响（p<0.05）。就照顾者的结果而言，在三个不同时期，高血压老年患者的知识、自我效能和保健行为程度存在总体差异（p<0.05）。干预后，参与者的平均知识和自我效能均有所提高。因此，干预后，老年参与者的自我保健行为更好，血压和总胆固醇水平更低。这些方案强调了照顾者在提供社会支持、增强信心以及鼓励参与照顾、监测和协助老年人控制血压和其他健康问题方面的作用。
