The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a group supportive-educative program on caregiver burden and parenting stress in Mothers of children with thalassemia major referred to Thalassemia clinic of Ali Asghar Hospital in Zahedan. The type of this research is parallel clinical trial. The studied population consists of all mothers who have 6 – 12 year old children with thalassemia referred to thalassemia unit. The sample size is 80 mothers who have children with thalassemia. Inclusion criteria in this study include: the ability to read and write; being residence of Zahedan; living with their spouse at the time of the study; and just having the responsibility of taking care of the child with thalassemia.
Exclusion criteria in this study include: non-cooperative mother; mother's pregnancy; death of a family member in the last 6 months. Mothers were non-randomly divided into two intervention and control groups with 40 members in each group. After selecting the samples and obtaining consent, the questionnaires were completed by participants of both groups. The intervention group received Four sessions (90 minutes) of educational support (including illness review, definitions, causes, symptoms, maternal experiences, emotional drain, ways of controlling stress, the religious spiritual support based on Islamic teachings which derived from the Quran verses, training and practice relaxation (deep breathing diaphragm) and individual massage, answering questions, and the color manual during four weeks.
The control group received usual care.
Primary outcome variables: Caregiver Burden, Parental Stress in mothers.