Effect of Mindful-Centered Self-care Empowerment Program on Depression of Breast Cancer Patients’ Spouses and their Family Functioning

Background: In spite of the important role of spouses as the main caregivers, intervention studies on the psychological health of breast cancer patients’ spouses hasn’t been much done. Also several studies showed cancers induced effects on the family functioning among the cancers patients’ families. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Mindful-Centered Self-care Empowerment Program(MScEP) on the depression of the breast cancer patients’ spouses and their family’s function.Material and Methods: This study was done as a quasi-experimental study with one-group pre-and post-test design. The study sample consists of ۴۶ randomly selected spouses of the cancer patients, who had the inclusion criteria, referring to the specialized Cancer Clinics affiliated with Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. The data were gathered using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Family Assessment Device (FAD- ۶۰) Questionnaire before and after implementing the Mindful-Centered Self-Care Empowerment Program(MScEP) and were analyzed using ANOVA and dependent t-test by SPSS-۲۲ at ۰.۰۵ level.Results: According to the results, the pre-and post- intervention mean (±SD) of the spouses’ depression was measured as ۱۵.۶۵(± ۶.۷۹) and ۱۲.۹۵ (± ۴.۹۹). the mean (±SD) of six FAD subscales was respectively calculated as the following: Problem Solving ۲.۳۰ (±۰.۳۳) and ۲.۱۵(±۰.۲۹), Communication ۲.۳۳(±۰.۲۹) and ۲.۲۷(±۰.۱۹), Roles ۲.۲۱(±۰.۲۳) and ۲.۳۱(±۰.۱۹), Affective Responsiveness ۲.۰۸(±۰.۳۲) and ۲.۲۸(±۰.۳۲), Affective Involvement ۲.۶۲(±۰.۴۰) and ۲.۲۷(±۰.۲۹), and Behavior Control ۲.۶۰(±۰.۳۱) and ۲.۳۳(±۰.۲۷) and for the General Functioning scale ۲.۳۵(±۰.۲۷) and ۲.۱۱(±۰.۲۳) (P <۰.۰۵). The findings denoted the significant effect of the training on the depression of the breast cancer sufferers’ spouses and their family functioning (P<۰.۰۵).Conclusion: The study findings suggested that SMCEP meaningfully influenced the reduction of the depression among the breast cancer patients’ spouses and the improvement of their family functioning.

کلیدواژه ها:

Self -care ، Mindfulness ، Depression ، Family Functioning ، Breast Cancer