Abstract:
The promoting of self-care ability for patients with schizophrenia is an important method to
enhance their self-care behaviors and self-esteem. The purposes of this quasi-experimental study were to
examine the effects of the holistic caring program on self-care behaviors and self-esteem among
24 patients with schizophrenia who have service in psychiatric clinic at Chaophyaabhaibhubejhr
hospital, Prachinburi province and met the inclusion criteria. They were randomly assigned into either
the experimental group (n= 12) and the control group (n= 12). The experimental group participated
in the holistic caring program for 6 weeks period, 1 session per week; each session took about 60 to 90
minutes. Whereas, participants in the control group received routine nursing care from the primary
health care center. The self-care behaviors scale and self-esteem scale were administered to participants
in both groups at pre-post tests and one month follow-up. These scales yielded Cronbachs alpha of .81
and .83, respectively. Descriptive statistics, independent t-test, two-way repeated measures ANOVA and
pairwise comparison using Bonferroni method were employed to analyze the data.
The results of the study revealed that the experimental groups had the mean scores of
self-care behaviors and self-esteem at post-test and 1-month follow-up significantly higher than the
control groups as p< .001. In the experimental group, the mean scores of self-care behaviors and
self-esteem at post-test (X = 66.50, SD = 3.83; X = 33.83, SD = 3.51), and 1month follow-up
(X =68.75, SD = 3.11; X = 36.17, SD = 3.63) were higher than the mean score at pre-test
(X = 3.83, SD = 3.59; X =27.92, SD = 3.32) with p< .001
The results revealed that this program could effectively enhance self-care behaviors and
self-esteem of schizophrenic patients. There fore, nurses and related health care providers could apply
this program to promote self-care behaviors and self-esteem among the other psychiatric or chronic
patients in order to decrease their quality of life.