INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF IMPLEMENTING THE CONTINUOUS CARE MODEL ON THE ATTITUDE RELATED TO ADHERENCE TO DIET AND FLUIDS IN PATIENTS TREATED WITH HEMODIALYSIS

Patients undergoing hemodialysis require a proactive program aimed at improving compliance with dietary and fluid restrictions. The current study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of implementing the continuous care model on the attitude related to adherence to diet and fluids in hemodialysis patients.

This semi-experimental research with intervention and control groups was conducted on 64 hemodialysis patients. The samples in this study were initially selected through convenience sampling and then randomly divided into two groups of the intervention group and the control group. Initially, demographic information and compliance-related attitude questionnaires were completed by the patients in both groups during the pre-test phase. Then, after providing an educational booklet, the follow-up care model was implemented in the intervention group. At the end of each month and until the end of the third month, the compliance-related attitude questionnaire was completed in both groups. Subsequently, the collected data were analyzed using statistical tests in SPSS software version 21.

The results of statistical analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the mean score of compliance-related attitude toward dietary and fluid restrictions between the intervention and control groups before the intervention (p = 0.343); however, this score had significantly increased one month after the intervention (p = 0.005).

The results showed that by implementing the continuous care model one month after the intervention, patients exhibited greater adherence to diet and fluid restrictions; therefore, it is recommended that nurses use care models such as continuous care model in caring for patients.