Satisfaction of the Caregivers of the Patients with Spinal Cord Injury Regarding Homecare Guidelines: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Spinal cord injury is a lifelong condition requiring ongoing efforts by multiple disciplines including family members/caregivers. In the current study, ‘Homecare Guidelines’ for the caregivers of the patients being discharged with spinal cord injury were developed. A pilot study was undertaken to assess the satisfaction level of the caregivers regarding homecare guidelines. Homecare guidelines for the caregivers of the patients with spinal cord injury were prepared by following all the steps of Delphi technique. These were validated by 11 experts in four Delphi rounds. The guidelines consisted of seven domains of care i.e. personal hygiene, bladder care, bowel care, bed sore prevention, changing position of patient, prevention of contractures and incentive spirometry. A checklist was prepared from the final draft of homecare guidelines to check the reliability of guidelines. It had total 125 items. The internal consistency reliability of the checklist was established with Cronbach’s alpha. Its value was 0.91. The study was conducted in Neurosurgical outpatient department (OPD) at a tertiary hospital at Chandigarh, India. Thirty caregivers who were taught regarding the home care of their patients as per developed homecare guidelines at patients’ discharge were purposively selected. A five point rating scale questionnaire was used to obtain responses from the caregivers. Parameters of satisfaction were related to benefits, systematizing their work, help in preventing errors, reading booklet at home, and satisfaction regarding content matter of the booklet/guidelines. Average score for satisfaction was 23.5 out of 25. The average score percentage for satisfaction regarding homecare guidelines was 94%. The results indicate that homecare guidelines are valid and reliable and can be applied in daily practice.