Effect of an empowerment program on the caring behaviors of mothers with preterm infants: the health belief model approach.

The present aimed to examine the effect of the health belief model-based empowerment program on the caring behaviors of mothers with preterm infants. A quasi-experimental study with before-after design was conducted on 40 mothers with preterm infants. They were selected using a convenience sampling method. The intervention was four 30-minute sessions of the empowerment program based on the health-belief model. The instrument for data collection included the demographic data questionnaire, health belief model-based questionnaire, standard self-efficacy questionnaire, and a checklist of mothers' caring behaviors. Data was collected twice at the neonatal intensive care unit and once at the participant's homes. It was found that except for the cues to action and perceived barriers constructs, the empowerment program led to significant changes in the other model constructs including perceived susceptibility (p < 0.003), perceived severity (p < 0.001), perceived benefits (p < 0.005), self-efficacy (p < 0.001), knowledge (p < 0.001) and care behaviors (p < 0.001). The health belief model-based empowerment program could change the care behaviors of the mothers with preterm infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]