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Background and objectives Through the use of an experimental design with a baseline and post intervention, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a psychological intervention in increasing public health and communication skills for caregivers.
Methods This randomized controlled trial was designed in Razi Hospital in Tehran, Iran. A sample size of 90 participants was evenly divided into intervention and control groups. The intervention group was given routine treatments and also participated in planned educational sessions. The planned educational program was implemented in 10 group sessions over a period of 5 weeks. Each session lasted 45–60 min. The outcome measures were: (1) improvement in the caregiver's general health as measured by the changes in their General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) scores taken at baseline and post intervention and (2) changes in the caregiver's communication skills, measured by the communication skills questionnaire taken at baseline and after 3 months.
Results An independent samples t-test revealed that there was a significant difference between the two groups in the mean scores of communication skill at baseline (P < 0.001). To adjust for the effects of pre-intervention scores on the post-intervention results, a covariance analysis was used. Consequently, differences between the mean scores of post-intervention GHQ total, GHQ subcategories, and communication skills in the intervention group and the control group were statistically significant (P < 0.001).
Conclusion Results of our study confirm that providing education on effective communication skills can be an effective, cost-efficient, and convenient strategy to reduce the psychological complications for caregivers and improve the care of patients living with schizophrenia.
