The Effects of Swanson's Caring-Based Nursing on the Well-Being of Caregivers of Terminal Cancer Patients

Abstract

     This study was a quasi-experimental research aiming to examine the effect of Swanson’s caring-based nursing on the well-being of caregivers of terminal cancer patients. The population and sample consisted of 30 caregivers of terminal cancer patients, divided equally into two groups: 15 in the experimental group and 15 in the control group. Simple random sampling was used by drawing lots to assign participants to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group received Swanson’s caring-based nursing program developed by the researcher, which lasted for four weeks and comprised five components: 1) Maintaining hope, faith, and belief 2) Knowing the patient as a person 3) Being with the patient 4) Doing for the patient what they would do for themselves if possible 5) Enabling the patient to have the ability to care for themselves. The control group received routine nursing care. The instruments used for data collection included a personal and illness information interview form and a caregiver well-being scale for caregivers of terminal cancer patients, with a reliability coefficient of .90. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Independent t-test.

     The results showed that caregivers in the control group had a significant difference in their mean well-being scores before and after the intervention. Moreover, caregivers in the experimental group had higher post-intervention well-being scores compared to those in the control group.