ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the effects of family empowerment program on comprehensive care ability and care preparedness for main caregivers of patients with initial stroke.Methods A total of 64 main caregivers of patients with initial stroke were enrolled from a tertiary hospital in Hangzhou from January 2017 to July 2017,and assigned into the intervention group and the control group according to different wards,with 33 cases in the intervention group and 31 cases in the control group.Both groups received routine care,and the intervention group also received family empowerment program.The stroke caregivers' comprehensive care ability questionnaire and the Caregiver Preparedness Scale were used to evaluate the effects of the intervention.Results Before the intervention,there were no statistically significant differences in disease-related knowledge,daily and disease-related care skills,self-stress and health management,coping strategies,and total scores of comprehensive care ability,and caregiver preparedness scores between two groups(P＞0.05).After the intervention,the total scores and each dimension score of comprehensive care ability,and caregiver preparedness scores of two groups were significantly higher than those before the intervention,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusion Family empowerment program can effectively improve comprehensive care ability and care preparedness of main caregivers of patients with initial stroke,making the caregiver playing a positive role in the rehabilitation of stroke patients.