The effect of education given to caregivers of Alzheimer's patients enrolled in home health services on their knowledge and attitudes towards Alzheimer's disease: A randomised controlled study

Aim: This study was conducted to determine the effects of education given to caregivers of Alzheimer's patients registered with home health services on their knowledge and attitudes towards Alzheimer's disease. Material and Method: This research was conducted as a 'randomised controlled experimental study'. This research was carried out between 01 December 2023 and 01 November 2024 on the caregivers of Alzheimer's patients followed up within the scope of Bulancak State Hospital Home Health Services in Giresun province. The population of the study consists of the caregivers of 145 Alzheimer's patients registered to home health services. In the study, 60 patient caregivers who met the research criteria and agreed to participate constituted the sample group. Caregivers were assigned to the experimental and control groups by simple randomisation method. The data of the study were collected with 'Patient and Caregiver Introduction Form', 'Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale' and 'Dementia Attitude Scale'. Caregivers in the experimental group were trained once. Data were evaluated by Mann Whitney U test, Fisher's Exact test, Pearson chi-square, Yates correction, Robust ANOVA test, Benforonni test and Robust Regression analysis. Results: It was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the median difference values of the 'Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale' of the experimental and control group caregivers (p<0.001). It was found that there was a statistically significant difference between the median difference values of the 'Dementia Attitude Scale' of the experimental and control group caregivers (p<0.001). The median values of 'Dementia Attitude Scale' sub-dimensions 'Supportive Attitude', 'Accepting Attitude' and 'Exclusionary Attitude' of the experimental and control group caregivers are statistically different (p<0.05). Conclusions: In the study, it was found that the level of knowledge of the caregivers in the experimental group about Alzheimer's disease and their positive attitudes towards the disease increased. Keywords: Alzheimer, caregiver, knowledge, education, nursing, attitude