Evaluating family satisfaction with end-stage patient care in a Health Center

Objective: to assess family members' degree of satisfaction with patient care in a Health Center. Method: a descriptive, cross-sectional retrospective method. Population: focused on the main caregivers who assisted an average of fifty-seven patients from May 2004 to December 31, 2005. Ultimately a survey was carried out (by telephone or personally, depending on circumstances) to detect patient level of satisfaction. Variables: the following should be highlighted: caregiver demographic data, kinship, working place, concomitant psychopathology, workshop attendance, socio-economic data, and patient knowledge on diagnosis and prognosis. Results: relevant data from 47 caregivers were obtained (from an average of 57 professionals). A prototypical caregiver had the following characteristics: 51 years of age, female, married, daughter of patient, unemployed, sharing the patient's home. Moreover, 42 caregivers (89%) agreed on the place where the patient dies. Even 47 of them considered the information and accessibility given good or excellent. Furthermore, 34 caregivers (59.6%), held the care provided by the palliative staff in quite high esteem. Conclusion: by integrating end-stage patient care into Palliative Care a higher percentage of deaths are occurring at home. This means not only improved family satisfaction, but also better patient quality of life.