Investigating the Impact of Self-Compassion education on the Family Caregiver reaction of older adults with chronic disease

INTERVENTION: Intervention 1: intervention group: The intervention group will receive a self‐compassion training program. This program consists of 8 45‐minute sessions, twice a week, the content of which is designed based on the book The Mindful Self‐Compassion Workbook by Germer and Neff. To develop the sessions, exercises such as compassionate statements, kindness meditation, writing practice, and relaxing physical contact practice, which are mentioned in detail at the end of each chapter, are used as the content framework of the sessions. The content of the sessions will include training in skills such as understanding and accepting difficult emotions, mindfulness, reducing self‐criticism, cultivating kindness towards oneself and others, emotional empowerment, resilience, and creating self‐compassionate motivation in the caregiving process. The training will be provided in person and will be supplemented with an educational booklet and educational videos. Additionally, to enhance learning, supplementary content including motivational and self‐compassionate messages, short educational clips, and introductions to relevant resources will be provided to caregivers via social media. Intervention 2: Control group: The control group receives no intervention and simply continues their usual care. CONDITION: The studied condition is family caregiver stress and burden resulting from caring for older adults with chronic disease. It refers to the emotional, physical, and social strain experienced by family caregivers.. ; Other specified problems related to primary support group Z63.8 PRIMARY OUTCOME: Primary outcome variable: Caregivers’ reactions score measured by the Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA). This variable assesses the emotional, social, and physical responses of family caregivers of elderly individuals with chronic diseases before and after the self‐compassion training intervention. Timepoint: The primary outcome (caregivers’ reactions score) will be measured before the intervention (baseline), immediately after the completion of the self‐compassion training program (8 weeks after the start), and one month after the intervention to assess the sustainability of the effect. Method of measurement: The primary outcome variable (caregivers’ reactions) will be measured using the Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA) questionnaire, a validated self‐report instrument that evaluates emotional, social, and physical responses of family caregivers of elderly individuals with chronic diseases. The CRA consists of multiple subscales scored on a Likert scale. INCLUSION CRITERIA: Seniors with electronic records Continuous care of the elderly with chronic illness for at least 20.5 hours per week for 3 months Age over 18 years Family caregivers include spouse, children, friends, and relatives Access to a smartphone and the ability to operate it and access the internet Ability to speak Persian