The effect of an online supportive program on the care burden of parents of children with leukemia

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the effect of an online supportive program on the care burden of parents of children with leukemia. Methods: : The present study is a quasi-experimental research designed in 2020 on 76 parents of children with leukemia in Mashhad, Iran. The participants in the intervention group attended the supportive program held via WhatsApp messenger for one month(N=38). The participants in the control group received only the hospital routine support(N=38). The collected data were analyzed with SPSS-20 software. Results: : The findings revealed that the mean care burden scores before the intervention did not differ significantly between the two groups (p=0.061). The average parental care burden score in the intervention group before the intervention was 45.63±4.44 which decreased significantly (p<0.015) after the intervention (42.81±5.07). However, the average care burden score before the intervention (43.94±3.17) and after the intervention (45.13±4.50) did not have a statistically significant difference for the participants in the control group. After the completion of the intervention, the care burden decreased significantly in the intervention group compared to the control group (p<0.05). Conclusions: : Regular supportive programs can be developed and implemented for the main caregivers of patients with other chronic diseases and integrated into the health system.