The Effect of a Social Support Program on Family Caregivers' Role Strain in Elderly Long-term Home Care

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a social support program on family caregivers' role strain in elderly long-term home care. METHODS: The research adopted a non-equivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The number of participants was 25 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group sampled among family caregivers in elderly long-term home care. The experimental group participated in a 10-session social support program, which consisted of physical, emotional, informational, and material support. The effect of the program was evaluated by measuring family caregivers' role strain. RESULTS: The experimental group showed a significant decrease in family caregivers' role strain in elderly long-term home care. CONCLUSION: The result suggests that the social support program was effective in decreasing family caregivers' role strain in elderly long-term home care. There is a need to develop more effective and systematicsocial support programsfor family caregivers of elderly long-term home care.