A benchmark study on psychosocial care-giving in Hemophilia

Pages: 622-631
Richa Mohan (Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Delhi University, Delhi)

The study explores the psychosocial care-givers knowledge and skills on medical and psychosocial issues in Hemophilia pre-and post participation in the training program conducted in four different North Indian States. The objectives of the study is 1) To approach a cross-section of psychosocial workers and ascertain their views on the psychosocial support in Hemophilia; 2) To critically examine the views/perceptions of the psychosocial workers pre and post training workshop .3) To analyze the responses of the psychosocial workers about medical and psychosocial implications of hemophilia. 4) To identify issues, emerging from empirical evidence, which could be utilized for preparing the guidelines for the psychosocial workers. The findings showed that overall the psychosocial care-givers awareness improved post training on different subsets on the psychosocial awareness questionnaire. This indicates that regular education and updating of knowledge of the care-givers is important. A close perusal of findings suggests that age and experience were closely related to the awareness on the psychosocial issues in Hemophilia. It was found that the young respondents’ awareness significantly improved post training whereas there were moderate changes in the responses of the older participants. On the whole, the change in awareness level witnessed after training illustrates that by providing adequate education and information, good results can be achieved, that will benefit PWH and their families, as well as those responsible for giving care to patients suffering from hemophilia.