Application of the Family-Centered Empowerment Model in an Intervention to Reduce Burden Among Primary Caregivers of Patients With Hip Fracture

Primary family caregivers of patients with hip fracture receive usual orthopedic care guidance and routine follow-up. This includes education on hip fracture and rehabilitation during hospital days 1-2, guidance on home caregiving before discharge, and weekly telephone or WeChat follow-up after discharge. Follow-up continues through 3 months after discharge.

Usual orthopedic care guidance and follow-up are provided to primary family caregivers of patients with hip fracture from the patient's hospital admission through 3 months after discharge. The intervention includes education on hip fracture and basic rehabilitation during the first 1-2 days of hospitalization, guidance on home caregiving before discharge, and routine telephone or WeChat follow-up once weekly after discharge. Both the control and experimental groups receive this intervention.

Primary family caregivers receive usual orthopedic care guidance and follow-up plus a structured Family-Centered Empowerment Model intervention from admission through 3 months after discharge. The program includes: (1) within 24 hours of admission, a caregiving manual and a group discussion addressing perceived threat (about 30 minutes); (2) during hospital days 1-7, two individual hands-on caregiving skills and scenario-based simulation sessions to strengthen self-efficacy (about 40 minutes each); (3) from day 8 to discharge, two sessions involving family participation in care planning and sharing caregiving experiences to support self-esteem (about 30 minutes each); and (4) after discharge, five targeted follow-up contacts and two online caregiving experience-sharing sessions for process and outcome evaluation.

Usual orthopedic care guidance and follow-up are provided to primary family caregivers of patients with hip fracture from the patient's hospital admission through 3 months after discharge. The intervention includes education on hip fracture and basic rehabilitation during the first 1-2 days of hospitalization, guidance on home caregiving before discharge, and routine telephone or WeChat follow-up once weekly after discharge. Both the control and experimental groups receive this intervention.

Primary family caregivers of patients with hip fracture receive a four-stage Family-Centered Empowerment Model program in addition to usual care, from the patient's admission through 3 months after discharge: (1) perceived threat: a standardized caregiving manual and group discussion within 24 hours of admission (about 30 minutes); (2) self-efficacy: two individual hands-on caregiving skills and scenario-based simulation sessions during hospital days 1-7 (about 40 minutes each); (3) self-esteem: two sessions involving family participation in care planning and sharing caregiving experiences from day 8 to discharge (about 30 minutes each); and (4) process and outcome evaluation: five targeted follow-up contacts and two online caregiving experience-sharing sessions after discharge through 3 months. This program is provided only to the experimental group.

Caregiver burden is assessed using the 22-item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). Each item is scored from 0 to 4, and item scores are summed to produce a total score ranging from 0 to 88. Higher scores indicate greater caregiver burden. Total scores are assessed at baseline, hospital discharge, and 1 and 3 months after discharge.