Abstract
Background: Cerebral palsy is a leading cause of disability among children, and most of these children depend on their care provider or parents all the time. Mothers of these children spend a great amount of time taking care of them, which could have adverse effects on their mental health. Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate the impact of the continuous care model (CCM) on the mental health of mothers with children suffering from cerebral palsy. Methods: This randomized clinical trial was performed among 80 mothers of hospitalized children with cerebral palsy. Subjects were randomly divided into the two groups of intervention and control. In the intervention group, the CCM was administered to the mothers up to eight weeks after discharge, and for the control group, only routine nursing education was provided to the mothers at hospital discharge. Before and one and eight weeks after the intervention, in both groups, the mothers' mental health was assessed using the General Health Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 through descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 33.2 ± 2.1 years and 34.3 ± 2.2 years in the intervention and control groups, respectively. In the intervention group, the CCM had a positive effect on the mental health of mothers one and two months after discharge from hospital compared to before the intervention (P = 0.04, P = 0.02, respectively); however, in the control group, the mean score of mothers' mental health was decreased over time. No significant relationship was found between mental health and the demographic characteristics of the mothers (i.e., age, education, participation in any child caring programs, having anxiety, having any other children with cerebral palsy, and experiencing depression due to having a child with cerebral palsy) (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The CCM had a positive effect on the mental health of mothers of children with cerebral palsy. Thus, this intervention might be useful, but further studies are needed about the cost effectiveness of this intervention and its long-term impact on a larger sample.