The effect of family-centered empowerment program on self-efficacy and perceived stress in patients with acute coronary syndrome in yazd social security hospital

One of the most common cardiovascular diseases is coronary heart disease. Key issues facing cardiovascular patients are their psychological problems and perceived stress. Stressful situations lower self-efficacy and increase dependence on others, including family members. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a family-centered empowerment program on self-efficacy and stress perceptions in acute coronary syndrome patients at Yazd Social Security Hospital. This education-oriented and semi-experimental study was conducted on patients with acute coronary syndrome referred to Yazd Shohadaye Kargar Hospital in 2018-2019. Eighty-four patients with acute coronary syndrome who were eligible to participate in the study were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups by random assignment software. The experimental group underwent individual self-efficacy sessions and stress perception training in the presence of active family members, followed up by telephone, and held four group sessions every two weeks. There was no statistically significant difference in pre-intervention self-efficacy mean scores between the experimental and control groups, but self-efficacy mean scores in the experimental group were higher immediately after the intervention and after two months interval than in the control group (p <0.001). Also, there was no statistically significant difference between the perceived stress mean scores before the intervention in the experimental and control groups. But immediately after the intervention, the perceived stress mean score in the experimental group appeared to be higher than the control group (p <0.001). Implementing a family-centered empowerment program can improve self-efficacy and reduce perceived stress in patients with acute coronary syndrome, lasting up to two months after the intervention. This affordable and low-cost intervention can thus be used to improve the health of acute coronary heart disease patients.