Effect of family education program on depression, anxiety and stress of family caregivers of elderly individuals with dementia

Due to rising elderly population and the subsequent increase in chronic disorders such as dementia, the expected number of family caregivers and health care complications, especially psychological effects such as anxiety, depression, etc are on the rise. Therefore, present study aimed to investigate the effect of family education program on depression, anxiety and stress in family caregivers of elderly individuals with dementia. This study was a clinical trial investigating the effect of a family education program on 50 family caregivers in referral centers for elderly with dementia located in Isfahan. Convenience sampling and random assignment were used in our study. Data collection tools were mini mental status examination (MMSE) and DASS (42 items). Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 and chi-square, independent t-test, and analysis of variance with repeated measures. Demographic characteristics did not show any statistically significant different. Compared with control group, mean score for depression, anxiety and stress of experimental group in caregivers decreased significantly (P<0.01). Implementation of this program could improve psychological status of family-caregivers of elderly individual with dementia, it is suggested that some programs be standardized and developed after evaluation of different research designs.