The Effect of Home Visitation Program on Quality of Life, Social Support and Pain of Burned Patients after Discharge
Abstract
Abstract
Background and Aim: Burn is a traumatic phenomenon affecting all aspects of quality of life of survivors. Therefore, those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder due to burns suffer a lot in terms of quality of life. The wide range of these harms involves physical, psychological and social problems. In such diseases, the continuation of care at home is considered given the lack of cure in the near future. Therefore, considering the fact that the patients need family support to cope with the difficult situation they face, the family should be able to come to terms with the disease and have the necessary skills and knowledge because the support the individuals receive from the family and community is a significant contributor to their life satisfaction. Thus, the medical team and health nurses can take constructive measures in this field in the form of home visit programs and act as a counselor to help and assist the family, providing the necessary guidance and training to the family. Home visits also improve the patient's daily life activities and adaptability through the development of self-care and problem-solving skills and can thus play an important role in their quality of life. Therefore, burn patients can benefit from ongoing nursing support with care programs such as home visits after discharge from the hospital when returning home and family.
So, this study was conducted to determine the effect of a home visit program on quality of life, pain and social support of burned patients in Sina Hospital of Tabriz Medical Sciences University of.
Materials and Methods: This study is a discontinuous time series research that was conducted on 30 burn patients discharged from Burn Center of Sina Hospital of Tabriz from January to October 2020 through convenience sampling. The participants were divided into two groups of intervention and control based on a blocking plan. The home visit protocol was performed for two months and once a week for 15-60 minutes for the patients of the intervention group but the patients in the control group did not receive any intervention. Data collection tools included Burns Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B) questionnaire, Sherborne & Stuart Social Support Questionnaire and Vass Pain Tool, which were completed upon discharge, as well as two and four months after the last home visit session for the intervention group and also at the time of discharge, two and four months after it for the control group. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 24 software, as well as ANOVA, mixed design and pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni’s correction.
Results: In terms of quality of life, the scores of the intervention group at the time of discharge, as well as two and four months after the last home visit were 108±4.75, 139.47±5.72, 172.13±4.42, respectively. In the dimension of social support, these scores were 66.86±4.62, 70.06±4.07, 74.40±3.97, respectively, and in the dimension of pain, the scores were 3.86±0.39, 2.33±0.31 and 0.26±0.12, respectively. The findings showed a significant relationship between the time of discharge, as well as two and four months later in quality of life (P<0.001) and pain (P<0.001). A significant relationship was also found between social support scores at the time of discharge with four months later (P<0.021), two months with four months later (P<0.027). Besides, no significant difference was observed between the means of the control group at different times.
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the home visit program has a significant effect on improving the quality of life, social support and pain of burn patients. Hence, nurses can be effective in improving the quality of life, social support and pain of burn patients by providing educational and therapeutic advice during home visits.