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Using Conversation Skills in a Self-Care Intervention for Care-Givers of Stroke Survivors

Jensen, Kelsey Kay and Teel, Cynthia S.
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Abstract
Most stroke survivors return home and rely heavily on family and friends for support. Caregiver responsibilities often are underestimated and can result in negative outcomes for the caregiver. Nurses can use specific communication elements to help caregivers improve self-care skills necessary to protect their own health, while caring for their family member. In implementing the six-session Self-Care TALK (SCT) intervention, the nurse interventionist (NI) uses four communication skills to build partnerships with caregivers. The NI: 1) listened with intent 2) affirmed emotions 3) created relational images and 4) planned enactment during the weekly SCT conversations. The SCT intervention was tested with older spouse caregivers of stroke survivors to identify how education and support conversations affect caregiver health. In this secondary analysis, the detailed NI recordings of communication skill use were analyzed to compare use across SCT sessions. Caregivers were age 55 and older, and were caring for a spouse stroke survivor. Using simple random sampling, 10 caregivers were selected from the 20 participants, yielding 60 conversation recordings for analysis. The number of recordings of each specific communication skill was identified for each participant, and totals were compared across participants and between sessions 1 and 6. The NI recording for each skill varied significantly across participants at Session 1 and Session 6. While following protocol, the NI was able to individualize the intervention for each participant. When comparing Session 1 to Session 6, the Listening skill use was significantly greater at Session 1 and there were no differences between Sessions 1 and 6 for the other 3 skills, reflecting consistency over time for skill use with each participant. Communication skill use was adapted to individual caregivers, while adhering to intervention protocol. Individualization is essential in caregiver interventions, and was reflected in the differences of skill use that were recorded across caregivers of stroke survivors.
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2009-07-23
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Research Projects
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