Effect of Family-Centered Empowerment Model on Knowledge and Caring Performance of Mothers of Children with Leukemia: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Background: Today, cancer is one of the leading public health concerns worldwide. Being diagnosed with cancer is not necessarily a life-threatening event for children and their families. Objectives: In this view, this study was done to determine the impact of family empowerment programs on the knowledge and care performance of mothers with leukemia children. Methods: The present study is a randomized clinical trial conducted on 62 mothers of children with cancer who were referred to the oncology wards of some educational hospitals in Ahvaz. The subjects were randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. The education was conducted in five sessions of 45 minutes (two sessions per week). Results: Comparison of the mean score of the knowledge of mothers of children with leukemia before education (3.09) and after education (6.29) was one of the interventions that were significant in the intervention group (P < 0.001), but in the control group, no significant statistical difference was observed. Conclusions: The results of the study indicated that by educating the family through the family-centered empowerment model, it is possible to increase the caregiving knowledge of mothers and prevent chemotherapy complications in children