Nahid Karimi1, Nahid ZarifSanaiey1, Fatemeh Vizeshfar2. 1. Department of nursing, Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. 2. Department of nursing, Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. vizeshfarf@sums.ac.ir.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Cancer is a chronic disease that affects individuals as well as their families. E-learning is a common method of education for patients and caregivers. The present study aimed to compare the impact of E-learning and blended learning on the empowerment of caregivers of cancer patients under chemotherapy. METHODS: This clinical trial was performed in the main chemotherapy center of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences during October 2018-December 2020. A total of 123 caregivers of cancer patients who were under chemotherapy were selected through simple random sampling and were divided into two intervention groups and one control group. The empowerment of the caregivers was evaluated using the caregivers' empowerment questionnaire in all three groups at the beginning of the study, immediately after the intervention, and 1 month after the intervention. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and statistical tests using the SPSS software, version 22. RESULTS: The results revealed no significant difference between the two groups regarding the knowledge score (p = 0.3). However, the first intervention group had a better attitude compared to the two other groups after the intervention (p = 0.003). Moreover, the mean score of performance increased significantly in both intervention groups (p = 0.000). No significant differences were observed among the three groups in terms of the demographic data, knowledge, attitude, and performance (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results indicated that both electronic and blended learning affected the attitude and performance of the patients' caregivers. Therefore, blended learning can be applied for enhancing the empowerment of caregivers.
OBJECTIVE: Cancer is a chronic disease that affects individuals as well as their families. E-learning is a common method of education for patients and caregivers. The present study aimed to compare the impact of E-learning and blended learning on the empowerment of caregivers of cancer patients under chemotherapy. METHODS: This clinical trial was performed in the main chemotherapy center of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences during October 2018-December 2020. A total of 123 caregivers of cancer patients who were under chemotherapy were selected through simple random sampling and were divided into two intervention groups and one control group. The empowerment of the caregivers was evaluated using the caregivers' empowerment questionnaire in all three groups at the beginning of the study, immediately after the intervention, and 1 month after the intervention. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and statistical tests using the SPSS software, version 22. RESULTS: The results revealed no significant difference between the two groups regarding the knowledge score (p = 0.3). However, the first intervention group had a better attitude compared to the two other groups after the intervention (p = 0.003). Moreover, the mean score of performance increased significantly in both intervention groups (p = 0.000). No significant differences were observed among the three groups in terms of the demographic data, knowledge, attitude, and performance (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results indicated that both electronic and blended learning affected the attitude and performance of the patients' caregivers. Therefore, blended learning can be applied for enhancing the empowerment of caregivers.