Background and Aim: Family behaviors are of great importance in the case of chronic diseases that require constant self-management. Chronic diseases management often involves changes in daily procedures that occur in family settings. This study aimed to determine the effect of education provided to family caregivers on supportive and obstructive behaviors of the family of individuals with type 2 diabetes.
Materials and Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial) IRCT2017053017756N15(, 60 family caregivers of type 2 diabetes patients were selected based on inclusion criteria and via convenience sampling method. They were allocated to intervention and control groups through simple randomization. For the intervention group, seven educational sessions were conducted along with telephone follow-up based on nursing diagnosis. The diabetes-specific Family Support Scale by Schafer et al. was completed by the patients before and two months after intervention. Data were analyzed in SPSS software) version 18(using T-test, Chi-square, and Wilcoxon tests.
Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups before the training. However, after the intervention, all the items of supportive behavior enhanced significantly in the intervention group compared with the control group (p <0.005). Moreover, the mean score of obstructive behavior was significantly lower in the intervention than in the control group (p <0.001).
Conclusion: Using the supportive and obstructive behavior training protocol of family caregivers, as an effective nursing intervention, promoted supportive behavior and reduced the obstructive behavior of family caregivers. Therefore, the implementation of this program can be recommended.