The Effect of Peer-Based Education on the Psychological Burden of Family Caregivers of Patients with Schizophrenia Admitted to the Military Hospital

 Psychosocial stresses and stresses caused by schizophrenic patients are a significant but common practice that, if left untreated and intervened, can lead to a reduction in the physical and mental health of family caregivers as hidden patients, and The quality of care they provide is effective.  The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of peer-centered education on psychological burden on family caregivers of schizophrenic patients.  This study was a clinical trial performed on 64 family caregivers of patients admitted to the military hospital with schizophrenia in 2018. Patients were selected using a purpose-based method and randomly divided into two groups of test and control. For the experimental group, peer educator training was performed for 6 sessions and the control group did not take any action. Finally, the psychological burden of the two groups was compared. P less than 0.05 was considered as a significant level.  There were no significant differences between the two test groups between the two variables. In the pre-intervention stage, the mean psychological burden was not significantly different in the two groups of test and control, while immediately and two weeks after the intervention, this difference was significant (P<0.001).Also, the results of the ANOVA test showed significant differences between the two groups (P<0.001).
Discussion and  Considering the average level of mental burden of the samples in this study and considering that the results of this study indicate the positive effects of peer-to-peer education on the psychological burden of families of schizophrenic patients, it is recommended to use successful experiences of peers as a model with Creating empathy between educator and learner to reduce the psychological burden of families of schizophrenic patients in hospitals and after discharge.
IRCT No. : IRCT2018122180420040N1