Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders affecting children.
Mothers are a primary caregivers of those children, they suffer from several psychological challenges in
the form of low self-efficacy and a sense of burden. Aim of this study: was investigate effect of
psychological empowerment program on feeling of burden and self-efficacy among mothers of those
children. Research Design: A quasi-experimental design was utilized in this study (one group pre/posttest). Setting: The study was carried out at outpatient clinic for epilepsy at Psychiatric/Mental Health
Hospital, Benha City, Qalyubia Governorate. Subject: 40 convenience mothers having children with
epilepsy was constitute subject of study. Tools: Three tools were used: Structured Self-administered
Questionnaire included socio-demographic data of mothers and demographic data and medical history of
their children, The Zarit Burden Interview, and Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy. Results:
More than half of mothers have severe level of burden pre-program implementation, this percentage
improve after implementation of program to become mild burden presented by two thirds of mothers. For
self-efficacy, less than two thirds of mothers had low self-efficacy before program implementation, while
almost three quarters of them have high self-efficacy post program implementation. Also, there is a highly
statistically significant negative correlation between total burden and total self-efficacy among the studied
mothers post program implementation. Conclusion: The psychological empowerment program has a
positive effect on reducing feeling of burden and improving self-efficacy among mothers of children with
epilepsy. Recommendations: Psycho-educational program should be part of care provided to mothers
with epileptic children to promote their self-efficacy and decrease burden of them. |
