Comparing the effects of face-to-face and telenursing education on the quality of family caregivers caring in patients with cancer.

Abstract

Taking care of patients with cancer is often done at home and by family caregivers. However, these groups do not receive the necessary education regarding care at home. The present study aimed to compare the effects of face-to-face and telenursing training methods on the quality of services provided by the family caregiver for patients with cancer. A total of 103 family caregivers of patients with cancer were randomly divided into 3 groups: control (<i>N</i> = 35), face to face (<i>N</i> = 34), and telenursing (<i>N</i> = 34). The control group only received the routine training, and the face-to-face and telenursing groups were trained for 12 weeks. Quality of care was measured using a questionnaire before and after intervention. Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and analysis of variance tests were used for data analysis. After intervention, the average total quality score for the care of patients in face-to-face (166.13 ± 13.91) and telenursing (157.76 ± 17.24) groups was significantly higher than the control group (82.51 ± 16.84) (<i>P</i> < 0.001). In addition, the average psychosocial care score for face-to-face group (49.06 ± 6.05) was significantly higher than telenursing group (43.83 ± 6.15) (<i>P</i> < 0.001). The results of the study showed that the two methods of training were effective on the quality of care among family caregivers of patients with cancer to a similar extent.