The effect of family-centered empowerment model on daily living activities of the elderly with heart failure: A quasi-experimental study

Family-centered empowerment is one of the effective models in improving the better performance of life activities in patients with chronic diseases. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of the family-centered empowerment model on the daily activities of the elderly with heart failure were designed and implemented.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 80 elderly patients with heart failure. Samples were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into experimental (n=40) and control (n=40) groups. In the experimental group, empowerment training based on a family-centered model was conducted during 8 two-hour sessions for the elderly and his primary care. The research instrument was completed by the samples in two groups three times before the intervention, immediately and one month after. Data were entered in SPSS software version 16 and with Chi-square statistical tests, independent t-test, and analysis of variance with repeated measures.

The results showed that the mean score of daily living activities in the elderly in the experimental group in the previous times (19.71±5.12), immediately (20.26±3.66) and one the month after the intervention (23.64 ±3.86) had a significant increase (P<0.0001). Also, the results of analysis of variance with repeated measures showed that the interaction of group and time on the score of daily living activities in the experimental group was significant (P<0.0001).

It can be concluded that the family-centered empowerment model can improve the activities of daily living in the elderly with heart failure.