The prepared family caregiver: a problem-solving approach to family caregiver education

https://doi.org/10.1016/0738-3991(95)00790-3Get rights and content

Abstract

Early hospital discharges, greater reliance on outpatient care, and the growing prevalence of chronic diseases has increased the demands on family members who care for patients at home. Family caregivers need information and training to insure that patients' needs are met and that home care is coordinated with that of health professionals. We propose a prescriptive problem-solving model for how care should be managed at home and for the kinds of information and training family caregivers should receive. The Prepared Family Caregiver model, which is summarized in the acronym COPE (Creativity, Optimism, Planning, and Expert information), teaches family caregivers how to develop and carry out orderly plans which address both medical and psychosocial problems and are coordinated with care plans of health professionals. The model is based on extensive research on problem-solving training and therapy. It empowers family members and patients for coping with illness and can help to moderate caregiver stress.

References (19)

  • TJ D'Zurilla

    Problem-solving therapy: a social competence approach to clinical intervention

    (1986)
  • AM Nezu et al.

    Problem solving therapy for depression: theory, research, and clinical guidelines

    (1989)
  • AM Nezu

    A problem-solving formulation of depression: a literature review and proposal of a pluralistic model

    Clin Psychol Rev

    (1987)
  • A Bandura

    Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavior change

    Psychol Rev

    (1977)
  • PW Shaughnessy et al.

    The increased needs of patients in nursing home and patients receiving home health care

    N Engl J Med

    (1990)
  • US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
  • MT Obertst et al.

    Caregiving demands and appraisal of stress among family caregivers

    Cancer Nurs

    (1989)
  • LJ Kristjanson et al.

    The family's cancer journey: a literature review

    Cancer Nurs

    (1994)
  • M Stommel et al.

    Cost of cancer home care to families

    Cancer

    (1993)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (141)

  • Methods to assess adults’ learning styles and factors affecting learning in health education: A scoping review

    2023, Patient Education and Counseling
    Citation Excerpt :

    So, patients with chronic diseases may face multiple challenges that affect their learning style and therefore their ability to benefit from health education. Many patients with a chronic disease depend on the help, management and emotional support of their significant others [19–21]. However, significant others often lack knowledge about the disease and face several challenges that may affect their learning as well, such as physical exhaustion, frustration, stress and undiagnosed morbidities [20–25].

  • Psychiatric aspects of care in the cancer patient

    2022, Neurological Complications of Systemic Cancer and Antineoplastic Therapy
View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text