Abstract
Background. With the spread of the contagious disease of COVID-19, the necessity of quarantine came to prevent the transmission of the disease. For this reason, patients suffered from social isolation. On the other hand, in order to control and treat the disease, it was necessary to provide self-care training. The present study was designed with the aim of comparison of the effect of self-care training program in two methods of multi-media education and tele-nursing on social isolation in patients with COVID-19 in Bandar Abbas city.
Methods. This study was performed as a quasi-experimental study on 88 patients with COVID-19 referred to comprehensive health service centers in Bandar Abbas in 2021. The research samples were selected through convenience method and were divided into two groups of multimedia training and tele-nursing using block random allocation. First, social isolation in patients with COVID-19 was assessed using the questionnaire in two groups and then self-care training was provided using multimedia and tele-nursing methods. At the end of day twenty-one, social isolation was measured again and the data was entered into SPSS software version 26 and analyzed.
Results. There was no significant difference in pre-intervention assessment in term of social isolation score between the two groups (P>0.05). The results of the multiple covariance analysis test showed that by controlling the effect of the pre-test of each dimension of social isolation, the mean score of the loneliness, social disability, social anxiety and social tolerance dimensions after the intervention in the telenursing group was significantly lower than that of the multimedia group (P<0.001).
Conclusion. Educational methods such as multimedia education and tele-nursing for awareness and self-care education, along with other medical care, can reduce social isolation. Therefore, it is necessary to consider a self-care education program and provide information about the necessary care during COVID-19 disease for patients in comprehensive health service centers and to use tele-nursing for more effective self-care education.
Practical Implications. Research findings can be applied in self-care training programs in infectious diseases such as COVID-19.