The comparison of the effect of personalised supportive mobile health (mHealth) and in-person home-based education on the burden of care and coping strategies of family caregivers of older people cancer patients

Family caregivers of older people with cancer bear a heavy care burden. They need help adapting to the situation and choosing an effective coping style. The present study was conducted to compare the effect of personalised supportive mobile health education(mHealth) and in-person home-based education on the burden of care and coping strategies of family caregivers of older people with cancer. A quasi-experimental study, with random allocation of samples into two in-person home-based education and mobile health education groups, with 30 people in each group. Questionnaires of demographic characteristics, Zarit's caregivers' burden scale, and coping inventory for stressful situations (CISS) questionnaires were used. SPSS16 software was used for data analysis. The present study showed that before the intervention, the level of care burden and the type of coping style in both in-person home-based education and mHealth education groups did not have a statistically significant difference (p-value > 0.05). However, after the intervention and two months after the intervention, the family caregiver’s burden in the in-person home-based education group was significantly reduced compared to the mHealth education group(P = 0.0001). Also, the type of coping style in both groups tended towards a problem-oriented coping style. In the in-person home-based education group, the use of a problem-oriented style was significantly higher than in the mHealth education group(P = 0.0001). This study showed that both in-person home-based education and mobile health education methods are effective in reducing caregiving burden and using a problem-oriented coping style in family caregivers of older people with cancer. However, in-person home-based education was significantly more effective in achieving these goals.