The Family Member's Perspective on the Hospitalized Patient's Death (711)

Abstract

1.Identify an approach to measuring bereaved family members' quality of the dying and death experience.2.List three measurable domains related to the quality of dying and death of patients in the acute care setting.3.Discuss the source(s) and reliability of the telephone questionnaire used to evaluate bereaved family member's experience of the patient's death. I. Background. Limited research exists comparing those who have and have not received care by an acute care palliative care service. At one particular acute care facility, about 57 patients die per month. II. Research Objectives. The specific objectives of the study were to evaluate: (i) patient comfort, (ii) patient and family support, and (iii) communication with health care providers during the dying and death process as perceived by bereaved family members. The investigators hypothesized that bereaved family members who received care by an acute Palliative Care Service will report greater patient comfort, support, and communication during the dying and death process, compared to bereaved family members who did not receive care by an acute Palliative Care Service. III. Methods. After receiving approval by the institutional review board for the protection of human subjects, all family members of patients who died between May 2008 and March 2009 at one acute care facility were invited to participate in this study. One month after the patient's death, relatives received a card inviting them to participate in this research. A trained data collector telephoned the family member three months later. The Family Experiences with Death (FED) Questionnaire consisted of 20 items. Survey data from 100 family members of Palliative Care Service patients and 122 family members of non-Palliative Care Service patients have been entered into the data file. The desired sample size of 100 in each group for a power of 80% has been achieved. IV. Results. Data collection is nearing completion. Preliminary Cronbach's alpha reliability of the FED Questionnaire is 0.81. Content and construct validity will be assessed using factor analysis. Comparison of the total FED score between the palliative care and control group will be done using the t test for independent samples. V. Conclusion. Conclusions will be available for poster presentation. VI. Implications for Research, Policy, or Practice. Implications are forthcoming.