Although early initiation of CPR improves survival, the public health impact has been minimized by not targeting family members who are likely to be both available and willing to perform CPR. Studies from UCLA indicate that emotional and functional status of patients worsens following CPR training of family members. Perhaps those factors explain why relatively few family members are encouraged by cardiologists and nurses to learn CPR. It is hypothesized that for CPR training of family members to be beneficial, the negative feelings that patients and family members may develop after training need to be addressed. In Phase I of this SBIR project, patients, family members, cardiologists, and cardiac nurses were assessed regarding family issues in CPR training. Three emergent issues were defined, scripted, and videotaped; family member immobilization during an emergency, patient loss of identity, and patient dependency. The videotape also provides a brief review of key CPR procedures. The present investigation will evaluate whether the CPR videotape, relative to a control tape addressing risk factors for coronary heart disease, improves the emotional and functional status of patients and family members over time. The study will also investigate the interaction of the psychosocial and booster tapes to improve CPR retention by family members.
