An empowerment health education program for children undergoing surgery for congenital heart diseases

Since the surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) is considered highly risky, appropriate postoperative care is crucial. After the surgery, children are often discharged with unhealed wounds, incomplete recovery, and continuing pain. Health education programs based on empowerment education model can assist clients to develop skills in self-management. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an empowerment health education program for improving caregiving knowledge, caring behaviors, and self-efficacy of parents caring for children after corrective surgery for CHD. This prospective clinical trial enrolled pediatric patients undergoing surgical correction for CHD. Patients were divided into two groups: the control group (n = 42), which received the standard education program, and the intervention group (n = 44), which participated in the empowerment theory-based education program. We collected data on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF); peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2); New York Heart Association classification of the patients; and the parents’ caregiving knowledge, caring behaviors, and self-efficacy before surgery and one month and three months after surgery. At one month and three months after surgery, the intervention group scored higher than the control group in caregiving knowledge, caring behavior, and self-efficacy. By the third month after surgery, the intervention group had significantly higher values of LVEF and SpO2 than the control group.