effects of a supportive training on caregiving burden of stroke patients’ caregivers after discharge from an intensive care unit (icu)

Background: the caregivers of stroke patients experience a sense of confusion and stress after the patients are discharged from the hospital. such that after a while, they experience a sense of inability to provide care and an increased caregiving burden. therefore, this research aims to study the effects of a supportive training program on the caregiving burden of stroke patients’ caregivers after discharge from the intensive care unit (icu).methods: in this randomized clinical trial, the study population consisted of 60 caregivers of stroke patients. the sampling method was purposive based on the inclusion criteria. the intervention was performed in 6 supportive training program sessions. data were collected using demographic questionnaires and the novak and guest caregiver burden inventory. data were analyzed using the paired t-test, independent t-test, and ancova.results: there was no significant difference in the caregiving burden before the intervention between the two groups (intervention: 81.13 ± 13.99, control: 70.66 ± 14.61, p value= 0.030). after the post-test, the caregiving burden reduced significantly in the intervention group compared to before the intervention (56.46 ± 10.52) and compared with the control group (72.33 ± 15.86, (p value< 0.001).conclusion: according to the findings, the caregiving burden of stroke patients' caregivers can be alleviated through the intervention of supportive training, which is an effective and cost-effective method. as nurses play a key role in training and supporting these patients as primary caregivers, they should take this program seriously.