Needs of the Family During Critical Illness of Elderly Patients

Directive and Supportive Behaviors Used by Families of Hospitalized Older Adults to Affect the Process of Hospitalization

“…Research on families reviewed earlier identified families as recipients of care (Bowman, Rose, & Kresevic, 1998;Johnson et al, 1998;Leske, 1996;Peirce, Wright, & Fulmer, 1992) or as care providers (Li et al, 2000;Li et al, 2003). The current research did not identify families in either of those roles but as providers of support to the hospitalized person.…”

“…Effective communication was found to be important to families of critically ill patients (Peirce et al, 1992), to reduce family members' anxiety during surgery (Leske, 1996), to improve family members'satisfaction with ICU care (Johnson et al, 1998), and to family members of hospitalized older people (Bowman et al, 1998). In addition, the need to be present with their older relative (Peirce et al, 1992), consistency of caregivers (Johnson et al, 1998), and effective discharge planning (Bowman et al, 1998;Pierce et al, 1992) have all been identified as important to family members. These studies are useful to the current endeavor, as they demonstrate the family members' desire to participate in their significant others' experience of hospitalization.…”

“…caregivers of frail older adults has been explored (Li, Stewart, Imle, Archbold, & Felver, 2000), as well as the needs of the family members themselves (Bowman, Rose, & Kresevic, 1998;Johnson et al, 1998;Leske, 1996;Peirce, Wright, & Fulmer, 1992), the roles of families during hospitalization of previously independent older adults has not been explored. As part of a grounded theory study exploring the experience of hospitalization for older adults (Jacelon, 2004), the role of family members of five older adults was explored.…”

Family member presence during resuscitation in the emergency department: An Australian perspective

“…Research has revealed that health professionals often underestimate the importance of family member proximity needs 5,34,82 . Numerous studies, ranging from descriptive to quasi‐experimental in design, examining family needs during critical illness in a variety of populations and settings have all identified proximity needs as among those ranked highly in importance by family members 1,3,7,20,21,78,83–87 . Studies examining interventions to meet family needs during critical illness, identify that benefits for patients, family and staff have been gained through promoting opportunities for family to accompany patients 27,30,31,75,77,88,89 .…”