Effects of a nurse‐led therapeutic conversations intervention in stroke patient–family caregiver dyads: A randomized control trial

Abstract Background Few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of family functional care interventions among stroke caregiver dyads. This study aimed to examine the effect of a nurse‐led therapeutic conversation intervention on resilience, family function, self‐efficacy in managing the disease, and quality of life (QoL) in stroke family caregiver dyads. Aims This study aimed to examine the effect of a nurse‐led therapeutic conversation intervention on resilience, family function, self‐efficacy in managing the disease, and QoL in stroke–family caregiver dyads. Design This study was a single‐blind (evaluator) randomized controlled trial. The planned execution time was from August 2021 to December 2022, in the rehabilitation ward of a medical university hospital. Methods A total of 82 dyads were included in this analysis. Dyads randomized to the intervention group received nurse‐led therapeutic conversations intervention one at four weeks after the patient's hospitalization for a stroke. The family caregiver dyads of stroke survivors in the control group received routine care. An effectiveness analysis that included patients' resilience, self‐efficacy, and patient–family caregiver dyads' family function and QoL was conducted at one month. We used the CONSORT Checklist for reporting parallel group randomized trials in this study. Results The patients in the intervention group showed improvement in resilience and self‐efficacy after one month. Furthermore, the effects on resilience (Cohen's d = 0.49) and self‐efficacy (Cohen's d = 0.46) were significantly higher than in the control group. Family functioning was significantly higher in patient–family caregiver dyads in the intervention group than in the control group (Cohen's d = 0.55; Cohen's d = 0.50). However, no significant difference in QoL was found between patients and caregivers in either group. Conclusions The intervention was effective in promoting family functioning and can also promote patient resilience and self‐efficacy in disease management. However, the intervention did not have a significant effect on the QoL of patient–family caregiver dyads.