Abstract:
The purpose of this quasi-experimental research were to compare quality of life in persons with schizophrenias caregivers before and after received the group social support program, and to compare quality of life in persons with schizophrenias caregivers who received the group social support program and those who received regular nursing care. Research sample were 39 caregivers of persons with schizophrenia who met the inclusion criteria from outpatient department, Nakhon Ratchasima Rajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital. They were matched-pairs by family income and health status and then randomly assigned into experimental group with 19 subjects and control group with 20 subjects. Research instruments were the group social support program, schizophrenia caregiver quality of life questionnaire, and social support scale. All instruments were verified for content validity by 5 professional experts. The reliability of the two latter instruments were reported by using Cronbachs Alpha coefficient as of 0.79 and 0.80 respectively. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. Major findings were as follows : 1. the mean score of quality of life in persons with schizophrenias caregivers after received the group social support program was significantly higher than that before, at the .05 level; 2. the mean score of quality of life in persons with schizophrenias caregivers who received the group social support program were significantly higher than those who received regular nursing care, at the .05 level.