The efficacy of telephone use to assist and improve the wellbeing of family caregivers of persons with chronic diseases: a systematic review

Abstract

Review question/objective The review objective is to synthesize the best available evidence on the efficacy of interventions using the telephone to improve the wellbeing of family caregivers of people with chronic diseases. The review question is: What are the effects of interventions using the telephone versus other technologies, strategies, or usual care to improve the wellbeing of family caregivers of people with chronic diseases, in the physical, psychological, or spiritual domains? Inclusion criteria Types of participants The review will consider studies that include family caregivers of people with chronic diseases regardless of the diseases, severity and duration of care. The caregiver may be a relative, friend or neighbor of the person with a chronic illness. Care must be performed at home. Types of intervention(s) The review will consider studies that evaluate psycho-educational, psychosocial and psychotherapeutic interventions, using the telephone to reinforce personal strengths, resources and coping skills of caregivers in order to improve their wellbeing in the physical, psychological and spiritual domains. The pychoeducational 23 interventions aim to improve caregivers’ knowledge about themselves, care recipients, and the environment. This type of intervention focuses on teaching caregivers to deal and cope with stressors by providing comprehensive information on their care recipients’ disease, resources and services that caregivers can use, and other specific coping skills such as problem solving. The psychosocial interventions 24 are those used to enhance the caregiver’s social and psychosocial functioning and improve social skills, interpersonal relationships, and communication. The objective of all psychosocial intervention is to integrate caregiving into the community, and as such, increase their sense of autonomy. Examples include engagement and outcome-oriented assessment, the family’s assessment of the patient’s needs, and coping strategy enhancement. Psychotherapy 23 is another form of intervention that is often used in conjunction with psychoeducation, involving individual counseling to caregivers by trained professionals. This type of intervention is usually designed to teach coping skills and problem solving techniques through the cognitive behavioral approach. For this review, only interventions conducted by telephone will be considered, without any face-to-face encounters or use of a computer. The intervention by telephone TRUNCATED AT 350 WORDS