The Influence of Helping Relationships From Significant Others on Healthy Lifestyle and Quality of Life Among Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Longitudinal Study

Helping relationships from significant others may assist patients with chronic kidney diseases to exercise health behaviors. Patients will adhere on the suggestions from medical staff and perform health lifestyle to maintain healthy behavior. The progress of the disease may be delayed. The research is a 3-year study to explore the influence of helping relationships on healthy behaviors among patients with chronic kidney disease. Building on the findings from the past three years study and the literature on trans-theoretical Model, helping relationships will be articulated. A helping relation intervention will be applied to evaluate its effect on healthy lifestyle and quality of life. The first year study will be a survey design. An instrument to measure the helping relationship will be established and tested. Total of 200 participants will be recruited to test the reliability and validity of the instrument. After evaluating the psychometric properties of the instrument, items may be revised according to the results. The second year of research will be a cross-section study. Of 250 subjects will be recruited to explore the correlations between helping relationships, healthy life styles, and quality of life. Data will be analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. In the third year, an experimental design will be applied to test the effect of a helping relationship intervention. One hundred and twenty subjects will be recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental and the control group for 60 subjects in each group. The helping relationships intervention program will be implemented on the experimental group. And the control group will be provided with routine nursing care. Data will be collected at baseline, the sixth and the ninth month of the third year of study. Data will be analyzed using generalized estimating equation measures to evaluate the effect of the intervention program.