title: Managing family centered palliative care in aged and acute settings.
abstract: This paper reports on the management of family centered palliative care in different aged care and acute Australian inpatient settings, following the integration of palliative care with mainstream services. Eighty-eight semistructured interviews were conducted and 425 questionnaires (Palliative Care Practices Questionnaire--PCPQ) were returned, completed from 12 regional and metropolitan locations. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using QSR NVivo and mean PCPQ scores from the four settings were compared. Scores on items from the PCPQ related to family centered care confirmed the analyses. Interviews revealed that factors contributing to the level of support for families offered in the various settings included the core business of the unit; the length of stay of the patients or residents; the acuity or symptom burden; and the coordinated involvement of the multidisciplinary team. Strategies for improving supportive family care are proposed.
authors.affiliation: La Trobe/Austin Health Clinical School of Nursing, La Trobe University, Victoria 3081, Australia. A.Street@latrobe.edu.au
authors.forename: Annette Fay
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Street
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Love
authors.forename: Jeanine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blackford
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D022143:Family Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006738:Hospices / Q000458:organization & administration; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000458:organization & administration; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000458:organization & administration; D012944:Social Support; D014739:Victoria