Yu Wen-Chun, Huang Chun-Ta, Sheng Wang-Huei
Department of Nursing, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, Taiwan.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2022 Apr 14;22(1):499. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-07929-z.
A successful family meeting is key to family-centered care and may foster communication and improve the level of satisfaction of the family in terms of communication. In this study, we evaluated whether a proactive communication channel could improve the level of satisfaction of family members following a family meeting in a general medical ward setting.
We conducted a pre- and post-study to compare the level of satisfaction of a family with a family meeting before (N = 39) and after (N = 29) intervention in two general medical wards of a tertiary-care referral center. The intervention included a pre-emptive question and answer platform and a written response to family-raised queries in addition to a regular setting. Following each family meeting, family members were requested to fill a 10-item survey assessing their levels of satisfaction.
The characteristics of the family members in terms of demographics, education levels, and previous experiences with family meetings in the pre- and post-intervention groups were similar. The scores in all the items that indicated the level of satisfaction significantly improved after intervention. The overall score for satisfaction increased from 85 (interquartile range, 80-95) to 98 (interquartile range, 93-100; P < 0.001).
Compared with conventional practice, the inclusion of a proactive communication platform along with a written response to raised queries as a part of family meetings improved the satisfaction levels of the family in terms of the content and process of the meeting in the general ward setting. Further studies are needed to delineate the optimal timing and use of such a communication modality.
成功的家庭会议是家庭中心护理的关键，可能促进沟通并提高家庭在沟通方面的满意度。在本研究中，我们评估了在综合内科病房环境中，一个主动沟通渠道是否能提高家庭会议后家庭成员的满意度。
我们进行了一项前后对照研究，以比较在一家三级医疗转诊中心的两个综合内科病房中，干预前（N = 39）和干预后（N = 29）家庭对家庭会议的满意度水平。干预措施包括一个先发制人的问答平台以及除常规设置外对家庭提出问题的书面回复。每次家庭会议后，要求家庭成员填写一份10项调查问卷，评估他们的满意度水平。
干预前后两组家庭成员在人口统计学、教育水平以及以往家庭会议经历方面的特征相似。所有表明满意度水平的项目得分在干预后均显著提高。总体满意度得分从85（四分位间距，80 - 95）提高到98（四分位间距，93 - 100；P < 0.001）。
与传统做法相比，在家庭会议中纳入主动沟通平台以及对提出问题的书面回复，在综合病房环境中，就会议内容和过程而言，提高了家庭的满意度。需要进一步研究来确定这种沟通方式的最佳时机和使用方法。
