Text

theses

ETD doctoral

Background
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Annually, over 2.9 million die from the disease with higher estimates among older Americans, females, and African Americans. A major gap identified is that COPD patients have limited knowledge and strategies on their healthcare plans after hospital discharge.

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to implement an evidence-based intervention “Teach-Back” method to improve patients’ knowledge, skills, and strategies to maintain a healthy lifestyle and boost their self-confidence.

Intervention/Methodology
The eight-day “Teach-Back” method was administered to the study participants to strengthen their SM for COPD care. The method incorporates the Trans-theoretical model, a structured and personalized educational approach used to trigger self-motivation to change and adapt to a healthy lifestyle in patients with chronically ill diseases like COPD.

Measures
Several tools were used in this study. Pre and post-National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) questionnaires were administered to adult patients with COPD to evaluate the effectiveness of knowledge acquisition on self-care management. The COPD Assessment Tool (CAT Test), a short and simple tool commonly used to measure the health status of COPD patients and patients with other pulmonary problems, was used in this study. The Stanford Self-efficacy for Monitoring Chronic Disease 6 Item Scale and the DRIVE 4 COPD five-question screener was used in identifying patients at risk for COPD.

Results
A total of 21 patients with a mean of 65.2 years (SD=± 9.3) participated in the study. Nearly half (N=10, 47.6%) of the study participants were classified as having very severe COPD, and almost all (90.5%, N=19) participants were considered as having a high risk for acquiring COPD. Approximately 19% (N=4) of the participants were on readmission, and 50% (N=2) were on readmission between 0 to 3 months. An increase in the NCBI scores between the pre and post-intervention was found. However, there was no statistical significant difference between the pre and post-intervention (M = -2.38, SD = .54) (t (20) = -2.02, p > .05, 95% CI= -.48 – .01).

Implication
Despite not showing statistical significance with the “Teach-Back” method, the findings here demonstrate clinical significance in improving health literacy, strengthening patient care through the use of by using evidenced-based tools. Thus, this study recommends future research to explore the impact of the “Teach-Back” method to improve the knowledge of a healthy lifestyle in a larger sample size (>21) among adult COPD patients.

ETD_11147

DNP

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-595z-t478

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