Design, implementation and evaluation of the effectiveness of training caregivers of Alzheimer's patients by micro-learning method

Background: Alzheimer's disease is one of the most common disorders in elder that the need for daily care increases as the disease progresses. Caregivers of Alzheimer's patients are faced to a variety of pressures and job stresses. Receiving specialized and continuous training is one of the effective ways to increase their skills and abilities. One of the new educational methods is microlearning, that micro- scale educational content is provided to learners. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of this educational method for caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. Methodology: This research was conducted by quasiexperimental one-group method with pre-test and post-test, samples were selected using census method and 8 educational topics in two groups of theoretical and practical topics were given each5 days to 23 caregivers of the elderly with Alzheimer's disease working in day care centers in Arak. Before and after the course, the test is taken from the participant by using a 21 questions researcher- made questionnaire to assess their level of knowledge in both stages. The researcher-made questionnaire examines the educational effectiveness according to kirkpatrick model in both levels of reaction and learning. Questionnaire data and pre-test and post-test results were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: the results show a significant difference between the mean scores of pre-test and post-test. Pre-test mean recorded 4.69(SD=4.47) and post-test recorded 17.82 (SD=2.08) which indicates the effectiveness of Trainings. the findings include a high and acceptable score of two levels of reaction (4.27 (P<0.001)) and learning (3.94 (P<0.001)), which indicates the effectiveness of the intervention. Examination of the mean scores shows that the reaction score was higher than learning. Conclusion: What is clear from the findings of this study is the effectiveness of micro-learning method for transferring educational materials to caregivers of Alzheimer's patients. It can also be recommended to use this method in training and transferring job and specialized skills.