Family-Centered Empowerment Model With Four-stage Including Perceived Threat With Group Discussion Method, Self-efficacy With Problem Solving Method, Self-esteem With Educational Partnership, and Outcome and Process Evaluations

The investigators conducted a triple-blind randomized controlled clinical trial study in patients admitted for MI to the CCU of an academic teaching hospital from June 2012 to January 2023. The study was approved by the institutional investigative review board at Tarbiat Modares University and Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences. Patients were block randomized to receive either standard home cardiac rehabilitation (CR) or CR using the Family-centered Empowerment Model (FCEM) strategy. Patients had not previously gone through CR programs. The difference between the two groups was not disclosed at any point. Patients consented knowing that they would receive cardiac rehabilitation, but without knowing the details. Patients and their designated family/friend were enrolled as a 'unit'. Patient empowerment was measured with FCEM questionnaires pre-intervention and post-intervention for a total of 9 assessments. Quality-of-life, perceived stress, state and trait anxiety, psychological distress, independent functioning, and functional exercise capacity status were assessed using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the 14-item Perceived Stress, the 20-item State and 20-item Trait Anxiety questionnaires, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale,Barthel Index (BI) activities of daily living index, six-minute walk test (6MWT), and free walking index (FWI), respectively. In addition, echocardiography was used to measure ejection fraction.