THE EFFECT OF MEETING FAMILY-NEEDS PROGRAM ON ANXIETY OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF CRITICALLY ILL PATIENTS

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study aimed to examine the effect of meeting of family needs program on anxiety. Subjects were a first degree relative (parents or child, spouse) or any other significant person of critically ill patients admitted in intensive care units (ICUs) at Thammasat University Hospital. The subjects were assigned into the control group (n=22) and the experimental group (n=22) equally. The two groups were matched in terms of gender, age, and level of education. The control group received the routine nursing care, while the experimental group received the routine nursing care and the meeting family needs program. The program lasted of 3 days and includes detailed coverage of 5 need dimensions. All activities in the program were developed for meeting family needs. The instruments used for collecting data included the Critical Care Needs Inventory and the State-Anxiety Inventory. Testing reliability used Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and yield the result of .93 for the Critical Care Needs Inventory and .95 for the State-Anxiety Inventory. The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and t-test.

The result indicated that, after the intervention has completed, the level of anxiety of experimental group was significantly less than before receiving the program at the level of .05. Similarly, the level of anxiety of the experimental group after receiving the program was outstandingly less than the control group at the level of .05.

Suggestion, the meeting family needs program may be adopted or developed the assessment to reduce time of evaluation in order that the family needs will be responded as soon as possible and precisely.