Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a caregiver support group of patients with dementia in a psychiatric hospital.
Design: A structural observation was used in this study. The support group had a close and time-limited format. Eight weekly short-term sessions of 1.5 hours a session were scheduled. The discussion components include: (a)1st session: introduction to the support group. The orientation covers the group goals, objectives, rules, expected behaviors, and "tell their story"; (b) 2nd session: discussion of the caregivers' emotions and feelings toward caregiving; (c) 3rd session: talk the care-receivers' reactions and common behavior problems to dementia; (d) 4th-5th sessions: taking care of self and doing positive things with the care receiver; (e) 6th session: information about community resources, financial issues pertaining to dementia, in-home services and medical needs; (f) 7th session: communication problems between caregiver and care-receiver and other family members; and (g) The final session is scheduled to review the progress of the group and concern future plans.
Materials and Methods: Group sessions were taped and analyzed both for the purpose of data collection and for clinical supervision. A record of practitioner observations of group development, as well as individual treatment progress reports, also provided additional data. Data analysis is followed by Hill Interaction Matrix (HIM). The HIM is composed of a set of categories developed for use in classifying and understanding interactions in small groups. The categories are divided into two basic dimensions: work and content. The content style dimension describes what groups talk about. It is divided into four categories: topic, group, personal, and relationship. The work style dimension describes the manner in which groups attempt to reach member self-understanding. Five categories make up this dimension: responsive, conventional, assertive, speculative, and confrontive.
Results: The HIM is especially useful in analyzing and describing process in therapy or support groups. The constructs behind the categories and matrix cells have direct clinical relevance. Interrater reliability was 0.82, obtained from three expert readers and two trained readers. The results of this study were as follows:(a) There was a consistency between the group leader and the group members in their verbal patterns; (b) Support group is helpful therapeutically to the group members; and (c) The therapeutic factors in the support group included universality, imparting information, altruism, catharsis, and group cohesion.
Conclusion: The results of the research showed that support group was helpful to the relatives of patients with dementia. The goals of this support group were accomplished as follows: (a) To promote positive mental health and adaptation in caregivers; (b) To balance long-term adjustment; (c) To help the caregiver become aware of his or her present and potential support network; (d) Caregivers can receive support and normalize their concerns; (e) Caregivers can go on to live productive lives; and (f) Decrease caregivers' sense of isolation.
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