Effects of an Empowerment Program Among Caregivers of Palliative Patients on Quality of Life in the Community

Abstract

End-of-Life care is provided under stressful conditions and it has an impact on the quality of life of palliative caregivers. This quasi-experimental research using a one-group pretest-posttest design was aimed to investigate the impact of an empowerment program on caregivers' quality of life. The participants in this study included twenty-three people responsible as caregivers for home palliative care. Data were collected between October 2023 and March 2024. The sample size was calculated using the G*power tool to have a confidence level of 0.05 and a test power of 0.80. The empowerment program to improve the quality of life for caregivers and End-of-Life care handbook were assessed by three specialists. Data were collected using a caregiver quality of life and evaluated Zarit caregiver burden questionnaires, which were trialed with a group of 10 similar caregivers and achieved a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.90. The data were examined using descriptive statistics and a paired t-tests. Before implementing the empowerment program, the caregivers' quality of life was rated as follows: poor 43.5%, good 30.4%, and moderate 26.1. After the program's implementation, the quality of life of the palliative caregivers showed a 100% improvement with a statistically significant difference from before the program (t= 9.095, p-value < 0.001). According to the findings of this study, community nursing units should promote the implementation of empowerment programs for palliative caregivers to improve their quality of life.