title: Question asking by family caregivers in hospice interdisciplinary team meetings.
abstract: This article reports findings from a pilot study that enabled family caregivers to use videophone technology to participate in hospice interdisciplinary team meetings. The goal of the study was to ascertain which issues were important to caregivers and the hospice team. A qualitative content analysis of video-recorded team meetings between team members and caregivers was conducted. In a sample of 12 caregivers in 36 discussions, caregivers asked a total of 137 questions, with the majority being Yes/No questions (45.1%), primarily used to seek clarification (19.6%). Hospice staff asked 396 questions, with the majority consisting of Yes/No questions (66.5%), mainly used to ask about the overall condition of the patient (22.2%). Data from this study suggest that when given the opportunity to participate in hospice team meetings, caregivers will ask questions of hospice staff. In addition, in light of prior research, this study's findings suggest that caregivers may have questions that go unaddressed, specifically regarding pain and medication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Studies, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203-5268, USA. lyles@unt.edu
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wittenberg-Lyles
authors.forename: Debra Parker
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Demiris
authors.forename: Karla T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Washington
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Regehr
authors.forename: Heidi M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wilder
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D014481:United States; D049269:Videoconferencing