Effects of Discharge Planning Program with Caregiver Participation among Patients with Psychosis of In-patient Department, Udonthani Hospital

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research aimed to developed a discharge planning program with caregivers’ participations among patients with psychosis who were admitted to in-patient department and to identify the differences in rate of loss to follow-up and medication adherence among psychiatric patients between before and after participating the program and between control and experimental groups. Samples were caregivers and patients with psychosis who were admitted to Raungphung ward, Udon Thani Hospital during December 2021 and September 2022. Samples were selected based on  inclusion criteria using a simple random sampling. The samples were consisted of 40 psychiatric patients and their primary caregivers, divided equally experimental and control groups with 20 subjects each. The research instrument was a psychiatric patient discharge planning program with the caregiver’s participations. A questionnaire was used to gather data regarding general information and medication use according to treatment plan. Validity of the instruments (CVI) was at 0.91 with its reliability using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was at 0.85. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test.

The results showed that the program was consisted of 4 activities: 1) raising awareness of patient care,  2) building knowledge and confidence, 3) promoting cooperation, and 4) continuing follow-up after completed the program. The results showed that the experimental group had significantly fewer loss to follow-up than those in the control group (p<0.01). After completing the program, the experimental group had significantly higher drug administration scores at the first, second, third follow-ups (p<0.05). Conclusion: the program was effective in reducing appointment missing and increase drug intake according to the treatment plan.