The role of caregiver in patients at risk of difficult discharge: a needs analysis in a medical ward

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the continuous increase in life expectancy and the large amount of elderly population the caregiver become an important figure in domiciliary assistance. He is not often prepared to fulfil this complex role, because he has a great number of unsatisfied needs. For this reason the aim of this study is to identify and analyze the caregiver's educational needs, in anticipation of frail elderly's home discharge. 39 caregivers of patients in the Humanitas Gradenigo Hospital in Turin, were asked to express their needs through the Caregiver Needs Assessment (CNA) questionnaire and then through semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed with Grouded Theory. The CNA's results showed that health care professionals were not always able to satisfy caregiver needs, in particular they needed more informations and needed to be involved in team decisions. There was a lack of communication between them and the equipe, they also needed to know how to take care of the patients and they needed emotional and social support. From the interviews, five main categories emerged: "emotion during acute event", " Strategies to face the disease", "relationship with staff ", "expressed need" and "future ". This study shows how the caregiver's experience impacts on different aspects of his life, including work, physical, emotional, and psychological health. Therapeutic education is an essential instrument that nursing staff can use to make caregivers more prepared for the complex management of the patient at home, sharing therapeutic aims.