Feasibility of a Family-Centered Hospital Intervention

Approximately one half of the 40 million family caregivers in the United States are regularly performing medical/nursing tasks, with very little training from clinicians. The goal of the current project was to encourage health care and social service professionals to proactively engage family caregivers as partners in care. The phases of the Professional Partners Supporting Family Caregivers project and results of an intervention are presented. Five hospitals were selected to develop a family-centered intervention. Patients' and family caregivers' hospital experience was examined, as well as nurses' perception of their work environment specific to care of older adults and caregivers. The sample included five intervention sites in which patients, family caregivers, and nurses provided baseline post-intervention data. The four comparison sites included post-intervention data from patients, family caregivers, and nurses. The family-centered intervention shows promise in improving patients' hospital experience and nurses' perception of caring for older adults and their families.