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Efective Implementation of a Structured Psychoeducation Programme among Caregivers of Schizophrenia Patients in the Community
scores were compared between baseline and 3 months 3.43 vs. 3.85, p=0.108 and between 3 months and 6 months 3.85 vs. 4.0, p=0.528, but
the difference was not statistically significant.
In section D, caregivers rated the impact on daily routines due to the involvement in caring for the schizophrenic patient in the past 1 month
Section D. No significant change in the impact score was observed between baseline and 3 months 5.06 vs. 4.72, p=0.337 but there was a
significant reduction in the impact on daily routines at 6 months 4.72 vs. 4.22, p=0.035.
Caregivers were asked of their concerns and worries about the schizophrenic patient under their care Section E. There was a reduction in worry at 3
months 25.87 vs. 26.74, p=0.174 and 6 months 26.39 vs. 26.74, p= 0.739 post-intervention. However, the change in worry scores was not statistically
significant.
4.5.2 FBISSF scores of caregivers in the control group
There was no significant improvement in the assistance in daily living in terms of severity at 3 months 13.44 vs. 12.06, p=0.251 and 6 months 12.06
vs. 9.86, p=0.235. In terms of assistance burden, similar observations were noted at 3 months and 6 months.
Regarding the supervision of schizophrenic patient, there were slight improvements in the severity scores between baseline and 3 months
6.58 vs. 6.36, p=0.664 and between 3 6 months 6.36 vs. 5.80, p=0.191. However both differences were not statistically significant. Similarly, on the
burden of supervision, there was lesser burden at 3 months and 6 months, but the reduction in burden was not statistically significant.
Under the financial expenditures module, an improvement in debt severity and financial burden was observed between baseline and 3 months 4.04
vs. 4.22, p=0.457, but worsened at 6 months 4.22 vs. 4.20, p=0.927.
In terms of the impact on daily routines in the past 1 month, caregivers reported an improvement at 3 months 5.16 vs. 4.82, p=0.352 and 6 months
4.82 vs. 4.44, p=0.215. However, the differences of impact scores were not statistically significant.
Although caregivers reported a reduction in worry at 3 months 22.71 vs. 22.89, p=0.903 and 6 months 22.89 vs. 23.53, p=0.674, this observed
difference was not statistically significant.
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4.6 Feasibility of the psychoeducation programme 4.6.1
Duration in service of staff
There were a total of 10 staffs involved in the teaching of the psychoeducation module to caregivers. They consisted of medical assistants and staff nurses
working in the respective health clinics. 8 80 of them had been working for more than 10 years and the remaining worked for 6-10 years.
4.6.2 Opinions of staff regarding the psychoeducation programme
Staffs involved in the teaching of the psychoeducation module were asked regarding the feasibility of the programme Table 7. All 10 were satisfied in
giving the psychoeducation programme. All agreed that the programme should be continued and that they would like to be given incentives. Almost
all of them 90 agreed that the psychoeducation programme is beneficial to the patient and they had support from the other staff in implementing
the programme. 80 agreed that the module was easy to implement but admitted that it was too time consuming. However, more than half of them
60 found the program a burden.
5.0 DISCUSSION
5.1 Key findings 5.1.1
Socio-demographics of respondents
In our study, there were more male caregivers in the intervention group as compared to the control group. We postulate that male caregivers were
more likely to be able to come for follow-up. Further analysis needs to be done to find out the reason for this observation. The distribution of Malay,
Chinese, and Indian caregivers were similar in the intervention and control groups. However, there were significantly more caregivers of other ethnicity
in the intervention group. This was perhaps due to the small sample size of other ethnicity.
The duration as a caregiver was significantly shorter in the intervention group as compared to the control group. One possible reason could be
that the caregivers are more receptive to the patients’ illness in the initial period of their illness. More caregivers in the interventional group have a
household income of more than RM 1,500 as compared to the control group. One possible reason for this was a significant number 23.6 of caregivers
in the control group did not divulge their household income.
