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Effect of Elderly Care Education on Home-Based Care Practices among Family Caregivers in Nigeria

Abstract

Population ageing is increasingly becoming an important public health and social-care concern in Nigeria, with many older adults depending on family members for assistance with daily activities, healthcare needs, nutrition, mobility, medication use, personal hygiene, and social support. Family caregivers may provide substantial home-based care despite having limited formal training in the physical, psychological, social, and safety needs of older adults. Inadequate caregiver knowledge may contribute to inappropriate medication practices, poor nutrition, falls, inadequate hygiene, delayed recognition of health problems, caregiver stress, and preventable complications among older adults. Elderly care education provides an opportunity to improve caregivers' knowledge and practical skills in providing safe, appropriate, and supportive home-based care. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of elderly care education on home-based care practices among family caregivers in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and Health Literacy Framework. The Health Belief Model explains how caregivers' perceptions of the health risks faced by older adults, perceived severity, perceived benefits of appropriate care, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence home-based caregiving practices. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes learning through observation, modelling, practice, reinforcement, feedback, and self-efficacy, which are important in developing practical caregiving skills. The Health Literacy Framework emphasizes caregivers' ability to access, understand, evaluate, and apply health information when making decisions about older adults' care. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how elderly care education may influence home-based care practices among family caregivers in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise adults aged 18 years and above who provide unpaid home-based care to older family members aged 60 years and above in selected Nigerian communities. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, local government areas, communities, households, and eligible family caregivers. Elderly care education will be assessed using indicators such as frequency and duration of educational sessions, education on nutrition, personal hygiene, medication management, mobility assistance, fall prevention, pressure-injury prevention, recognition of common health problems, mental and social support, communication with older adults, healthcare-seeking, emergency response, infection prevention, and caregiver self-care. Home-based care practices will be assessed using indicators such as appropriate medication administration, personal hygiene support, nutritional care, hydration, mobility assistance, fall-prevention practices, safe home environment, monitoring of health conditions, recognition of warning signs, appropriate healthcare-seeking, appointment attendance, infection-prevention practices, emotional support, and communication with healthcare professionals. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, standardized caregiver knowledge and practice assessment tools, caregiver education records, household observation checklists where appropriate, healthcare records, and relevant community health programme documents. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize participants' characteristics, caregiving responsibilities, exposure to elderly care education, and home-based care practices. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of elderly care education on home-based care practices. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, caregiver practice scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that elderly care education has a significant positive effect on home-based care practices among family caregivers in Nigeria. Caregivers exposed to structured elderly care education are expected to demonstrate better caregiving practices than caregivers without comparable exposure. Education may improve caregivers' ability to provide appropriate nutrition and hydration, maintain personal hygiene, support safe mobility, prevent falls, administer medicines correctly, recognize warning signs, and seek timely professional healthcare. Practical demonstrations and caregiver training may also improve confidence in assisting older adults with daily activities and communicating effectively with healthcare providers. Education on caregiver self-care may further help caregivers recognize their own limitations and seek appropriate support when caregiving demands become excessive. However, financial constraints, inadequate caregiver support, limited access to healthcare services, cultural beliefs, low literacy, caregiver burden, lack of appropriate home-care equipment, and limited availability of geriatric services may reduce the effectiveness of educational interventions. The study therefore expects accessible, practical, culturally appropriate, and continuous elderly care education to contribute significantly to improved home-based care practices among family caregivers in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on elderly care education, family caregiving, home-based care, geriatric health, healthy ageing, caregiver training, health literacy, community healthcare, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, state ministries of health, primary healthcare centres, hospitals, community health workers, social-care organizations, caregiver associations, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving the quality of home-based care for older adults. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for integrating elderly care education into community health programmes, developing culturally appropriate caregiver-training materials, strengthening community-based geriatric services, improving access to caregiver support and home-care resources, training healthcare workers to provide caregiver education, and establishing referral and follow-up systems for older adults requiring professional healthcare across Nigeria.

Keywords: Elderly care education, home-based care, family caregivers, older adults, caregiver training, geriatric health, healthy ageing, home healthcare, health education, Nigeria, public health.