Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
School of Nursing & Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Jul 24;23(1):1412. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-15095-y.
Health outcomes among Agent Orange/dioxin (dioxin) victims are significant due to many individuals requiring daily assistance, informal care, and rehabilitation support. This study aimed to identify the information needs of informal caregivers of dioxin victims in Vietnam.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in Quynh Phu district, Thai Binh province - an area with a large number of dioxin victims, from June 2019 to June 2020. Quantitative data were collected from 124 caregivers of victims via structured interviews. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interview guides with in-depth interviews (IDI) (n = 36) and two focus group discussions (FGD) (n = 12).
The results demonstrated that all caregivers of dioxin victims were family members, predominantly older (71.8%), 61.5 years old on average, living on low incomes (87.9%), and were farmers (80.7%). Almost all participants (96.8%) reported having information needs, particularly concerning dioxin's harms, nutrition, dioxin-related policies and rehabilitation, and psychological support for patients. Caregivers reported that they would like to receive information via health staff counselling (85.0%), television (75.0%), and community loudspeaker (65.8%). Notably, the majority of caregivers reported the need for information regarding psychological support (70.0%). These findings are consistent with qualitative data, which identify an urgent need to provide information, especially through health staff and digital resources.
Many families with dioxin victims lived with little support and information, highlighting their high demand for information about care and rehabilitation. Thus, the healthcare system should promote information support, policy, and psychological support for caregivers and victims. An online support system for caregivers and victims is also recommended.
由于许多橙剂/二恶英（二恶英）受害者需要日常援助、非正式护理和康复支持，因此他们的健康状况令人担忧。本研究旨在确定越南二恶英受害者的非正式护理人员的信息需求。
2019 年 6 月至 2020 年 6 月，在拥有大量二恶英受害者的泰国平省桂福地区进行了一项横断面研究。通过结构式访谈，从 124 名受害者的护理人员那里收集了定量数据。通过半结构式访谈指南，对 36 名护理人员进行深入访谈（IDI）和两次焦点小组讨论（FGD）（n=12）收集定性数据。
结果表明，所有二恶英受害者的护理人员均为家庭成员，主要为年龄较大的老年人（71.8%），平均年龄为 61.5 岁，收入较低（87.9%），且以务农为主（80.7%）。几乎所有参与者（96.8%）报告有信息需求，特别是有关二恶英危害、营养、二恶英相关政策和康复以及患者心理支持的信息。护理人员表示，他们希望通过卫生工作人员咨询（85.0%）、电视（75.0%）和社区广播（65.8%）获得信息。值得注意的是，大多数护理人员报告需要心理支持方面的信息（70.0%）。这些发现与定性数据一致，定性数据表明迫切需要提供信息，特别是通过卫生工作人员和数字资源。
许多有二恶英受害者的家庭几乎没有得到支持和信息，这突出表明他们对护理和康复信息的需求很高。因此，医疗保健系统应促进为护理人员和受害者提供信息支持、政策和心理支持。还建议为护理人员和受害者建立在线支持系统。
