Abstract
Purpose: To determine the impact of the internet+ transitional care on knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) of family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and analyze the practicability of the internet+ Medical Messenger and WeChat network support platforms. Background: The number of AD patients in China has exceeded 10 million, ranking first in the world. Home care is the main way of care for AD patients. We use the Internet platform to implement “online” combined with “offline” continuous care for AD patients and home caregivers, and provide personalized health education and guidance, so that caregivers can easily master disease-related knowledge, establish positive care beliefs, improve care ability, and promote the improvement of patients’ caregivers’ knowledge, attitude and practice. Method: The family caregivers of 77 patients with AD were randomly divided into two groups (intervention group [40 patients] and control group [37 patients]). The intervention group adopted the internet + transitional care, while the control group adopted traditional transitional care. The KAP of the two groups of family caregivers before intervention, 3 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention were analyzed. Results: The KAP scores of the 77 family caregivers before intervention were 17.39 ± 2.92, 33.42 ± 4.77, and 57.65 ± 13.84. There was no significant difference in the knowledge scores in the care (t=1.89, P=0.062) and symptom (t=1.78, P=0.078) dimensions 3 months after intervention, while there was a significant difference in the other KAP dimensions (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The internet + transitional care improves the level to of KAP among family caregivers of patients with AD and the effect was proportional to time.
Highlights
Data from the Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) has shown that there is an average of 1 new case of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) every 3 seconds worldwide
The study objects in the intervention group received internet + transitional care consisting of home visits + a platform of internet application
The patient's self-care ability is divided according to the basic life activity ability (BADL) score: 61-100 points indicate completely independent without assistance; 41-60 points need a small amount of help; 21-40 points need great help; ≤20 points indicate completely dependent
Summary
Data from the Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) has shown that there is an average of 1 new case of AD every 3 seconds worldwide. It is predicted that the total number of patients with AD in 2050 will be 2 times more than 2011 [1]. The number of patients with AD is increasing rapidly in China with an increase of > 300,000 new cases every year. Patients with AD have many co-morbidities and are heavily dependent on others for their lives. Caregivers are under tremendous physical, psychological, and economic pressure. Care is the main way to care for patients with AD [2]. The knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) of family caregivers reflects the care level and quality of caregivers, and directly affects the quality of life of caregivers and patients
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
