PURPOSE: A quasi-experimental study was performed to investigate the effects of a home visiting discharge education program on the maternal self-esteem, attachment, postpartum depression and family function in 35 mothers of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) infants. METHODS: Twenty-three mothers in the intervention group received the home visiting discharge education while 12 mothers in the control group received the routine, hospital discharge education. Baseline data was collected in both groups one day after delivery. The intervention group received the home visiting discharge education while the control group did the routine hospital-based discharge education. The questionnaire including the data on maternal self-esteem, attachment, postpartum depression and family function were collected within 1week after the discharge by mail. RESULTS: The scores of maternal self-esteem, and attachment were significantly increased, and the postpartum depression and the family function score were decreased after the home visiting discharge education in intervention group. There were no changes in these variables before and after the routine hospital-based discharge education in control group. CONCLUSION: These results support the beneficial effects of home visiting discharge education on the maternal role adaptation and family function of the mothers of NICU infants.
Adaptation, Psychological ; Adult ; Aftercare/organization & administration ; Attitude to Health ; Depression, Postpartum/diagnosis/etiology/*prevention & control ; *Family Health ; Female ; Home Care Services/*organization & administration ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; *Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Korea ; Male ; *Mother-Child Relations ; *Mothers/education/psychology ; Nursing Evaluation Research ; Patient Discharge ; Postnatal Care/organization & administration ; Program Evaluation ; Public Health Nursing/*organization & administration ; Questionnaires ; *Self Concept

PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the effects of a bereavement intervention program on levels of depression and life satisfaction in middle aged widows in Korea. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design with non-equivalent control-group pretest-posttest was used. The subjects (control group, n = 10; intervention group, n = 17) were bereaved less than 6 months in G City and J Province, Korea. The bereavement intervention program consisted of Dan-jeon breathing, self-help group activities and a health examination. The experimental group attended 10 sessions of a bereavement intervention program. The control group had a health examination without the intervention program. For both groups, the level of depression and life satisfaction levels were measured before and after the experiment. RESULTS: The decrement of depression level in the experimental group was significantly greater than in the control group (p<.001). The increment in life satisfaction in the experimental group was significantly greater than in the control group (p<.001). CONCLUSION: The results suggested that the bereavement intervention program was effective in decreasing level of depression and in increasing the life satisfaction of widows. Accordingly, a bereavement intervention program can be applied as an intervention to help widows.
Adult ; Attitude to Health ; *Bereavement ; Breathing Exercises ; Depression/diagnosis/etiology/*prevention & control/psychology ; Exercise Therapy ; Female ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Health Status ; Humans ; Korea ; Life Change Events ; Medicine, East Asian Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Nursing Evaluation Research ; *Personal Satisfaction ; Physical Examination ; Program Evaluation ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Quality of Life/psychology ; Questionnaires ; Self-Help Groups/*organization & administration ; Widowhood/*psychology