Description
The Theory of Human Caring by Jean Watson focused on developing a trusting and a caring relationship between the caregiver and the care receiver as well as creating a healing environment at all physical and non physical levels (Alharbi & Baker, 2020).
The first study that used Dr. Watson’s theory is the impact of caregivers with schizophrenia patients. This clinical trial was performed on 72 caregivers through five face-to-face sessions and a four week follow-up in psychiatric centers (Bagheri et al., 2023). The result of this study showed that holistic care improved the well-being of the patient significantly (Bagheri et al., 2023). In the control group where the nurses applied the Theory of Human Caring to the patients, the nurses and the caregivers found solutions to the problems, meeting mental, social, and spiritual needs of the patients, and fulfilling the health processes (Bagheri et al., 2023). Consistently, the study also showed that the caregivers who received stress coping skill training performed better in their health and work performances (Bagheri et al., 2023). This training program included mindfulness, attention to oneself, self-care on a physical, mental, and spiritual level (Bagheri et al., 2023). This program helped the caregivers to be more self-aware and sensitive towards themselves and the patients.
The second study that used the Theory of Human Caring is based on the family members as the caregivers for their loved ones who have type 2 diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of family support system on dietary adherence with type 2 diabetes mellitus patients based on the Theory of Human Caring (Hariyono et al., 2022). The results showed 29 patients (74.4%) have good family support, and almost half of the 21 respondents (53.8%) adhered to their diets (Hariyono et al., 2022).
From both of the research studies, the concepts of a caring relationship enhances the patient to receive an optimal health and well-being on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. The studies provided training to better the health of the caregiver. The caregivers’ performance was measurable through questionnaires and patients’ and families’ reviews. The caregivers’ performances increased the patients’ satisfaction and helped the patients’ health to become better.
References
Alharbi, K. M., & Baker, O. G. (2020). Jean Watson’s middle range theory of human caring: A
critique. Int. J. Adbanced Multidiscip. Sci. Res, 3, 1-14.
Bagheri, S., Ladan Zarshenas, Mahnaz Rakhshan, Sharif, F., Ebrahim Moghimi Sarani, Zahra
Hadian Shirazi, & Sitzman, K. (2023). Impact of Watson’s human caring-based health promotion program on caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09725-9
Hariyono, H., Fatoni, I., Malatuzzulfa, N. I., Roni, F., Kristyaningrum, D. Y., Prameswari, V. E.,
Wahyuningrum, T., Yulianti, I., Ardhianti, L. P., Indrawati, U., & Firdaus, R. A. O. (2022). Effect of Family Support on Diet Compliance in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients Based on Human Caring Theory. Resmilitaris, 12(2), 312–320. https://resmilitaris.net/menu-script/index.php/resmilitaris/article/view/106
