Comparing the effects of face-to-face and telenursing education on the quality of family caregivers caring in patients with cancer

BACKGROUND: Taking care of patients with cancer is often done at home and by family caregivers. However, these groups do not receive the necessary education regarding care at home. OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to compare the effects of face-to-face and telenursing training methods on the quality of services provided by the family caregiver for patients with cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 103 family caregivers of patients with cancer were randomly divided into 3 groups: control (N = 35), face to face (N = 34), and telenursing (N = 34). The control group only received the routine training, and the face-to-face and telenursing groups were trained for 12 weeks. Quality of care was measured using a questionnaire before and after intervention. Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and analysis of variance tests were used for data analysis. RESULTS: After intervention, the average total quality score for the care of patients in face-to-face (166.13 ± 13.91) and telenursing (157.76 ± 17.24) groups was significantly higher than the control group (82.51 ± 16.84) (P < 0.001). In addition, the average psychosocial care score for face-to-face group (49.06 ± 6.05) was significantly higher than telenursing group (43.83 ± 6.15) (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that the two methods of training were effective on the quality of care among family caregivers of patients with cancer to a similar extent.