失智症是目前老人常見之問題,伴隨疾病而來的行為問題又常造成家屬照顧者之困擾,因此要提升居家失智老人及家屬照顧者之生活品質,改善照顧者之照顧能力是主要關鍵。本研究首先是發展失智症照顧者訓練方案並實際執行,接著則評估此方案對提升照顧者能力之成效,採類實驗性研究設計。 研究結果發現,實驗組(N=24)在提供照顧者訓練方案後,照顧者能力明顯增加,且照顧能力持續提升,對照組(N=24)亦有輕微提升,以Wilcoxon符號等級檢定,結果顯示兩組的後測皆達顯著差異。經GEE方法檢測兩組各次照顧者能力得分之分佈趨勢,發現實驗組之照顧者能力改變明顯進步與對照組不同。研究結果證實照顧者訓練方案,能有效改善照顧者的照顧能力,建議未來研究能增加觀察的時間點,並增加樣本數及擴大選樣區域,以增加結果的可靠性及推論性。
Dementia is a common problem to the elders. The accompanied behavioral problems increase the burden of the caregivers. To improve caregiver's competence is crucial to enhance the quality of life of patients with dementia and their caregivers. A clinical trial with random assignment was used in this study to examine the effects of the family caregiver training program on the competence of caregivers of patients with dementia. Results indicated that caregivers in the experimental group (n=24) appeared to have significantly better competence in both post test as compared to the caregivers in the control group (n=24) by using Wilcoxon's Signed Rank Tests. By using GEE Model analysis, the study found that different from caregivers in the control group, competence of caregivers in the experimental group improved significantly and continuously after receiving the training program. The result of this study shows that the caregiver training program can improve the caregiver’s competence effectively. However, it is suggested, in future study, to increase the follow-up period and enlarge the sample size in order to further enhance the generalyability of the results.