None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
We will trial a family carer support program following the discharge of older patients (recipients of family care) from the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Medical Assessment Unit. To do this, we will assign family carers to receive either usual care or usual care plus the support program. We will compare outcomes between the two groups in terms of: a. family preparedness to sustain the caregiving role b. re-presentations and readmissions of care recipients to any Western Australian hospital - and length of stay when readmissions do occur c. costs to the healthcare system. We will also seek feedback on the program from family carers, patients, and the hospital staff.
Interventions
Family carers in the intervention group will receive standard care plus the Further Enabling Care at Home (FECH) program, implemented by a nurse. Contacts will be by telephone, after discharge. The Nurse will make initial contact with the family carer within one week of the discharge (Contact 1, approx 15 minutes). This contact will include the FECH Nurse introducing him/herself, explaining the intervention, and scheduling Contact 2 (approx 30 minutes) within the next few days to (a) determine a
Family carers in the intervention group will receive standard care plus the Further Enabling Care at Home (FECH) program, implemented by a nurse. Contacts will be by telephone, after discharge. The Nurse will make initial contact with the family carer within one week of the discharge (Contact 1, approx 15 minutes). This contact will include the FECH Nurse introducing him/herself, explaining the intervention, and scheduling Contact 2 (approx 30 minutes) within the next few days to (a) determine and respond to the extent to which the family carer understands the copy of the discharge letter to the GP that is provided to them; (b) administer Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool* to the family carer, resulting in the carer’s self-identified and prioritised support needs; and (c) initiate responses to the three prioritised needs, helping ensure family carers’ linkage and engagement with appropriate existing resources. A few days after this appointment, the FECH Nurse will check to determine if access to support has been achieved as planned, advising as appropriate (Contact 3, approx 15 minutes). This program will be delivered over a 6 week period. *Ewing G, Brundle C, Payne S, Grande G. The Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) for use in palliative and end-of-life care at home: A validation study. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2013;46(3):395-405.
Sponsors
Curtin University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Dyads of older people (aged 70+) discharged home from the Medical Assessment Unit during the recruitment period and their adult (aged 18+), English speaking, carers (one per patient). Carers are family members or friends who provide unpaid personal care, support and assistance. Dyads already recruited into the study will be excluded from further recruitment upon any subsequent readmissions.
Exclusion criteria
Dyads will be excluded when patients are not going directly home from the Unit.
Outcome results
None listed