Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Departments of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
CJEM. 2024 Oct;26(10):727-731. doi: 10.1007/s43678-024-00749-6. Epub 2024 Jul 30.
Approximately 95% of children treated in emergency departments (EDs) in Alberta, Canada, are discharged home. Discharge teaching is an opportunity to provide caregivers with the information that they need to manage their child's condition at home and ensure appropriate follow-up. Our ED lacked a standard discharge instruction process. In preparation for local quality improvement, we sought to understand caregiver preferences regarding discharge instructions by assessing the preferred format, need for translated resources, and ability to effectively access electronic information using a Quick Response (QR) code.
This project was completed at a tertiary pediatric ED in Calgary, Alberta in July and August 2021. Caregivers of pediatric patients were invited to complete a survey. Families requiring an interpreter were not eligible; however, this was recorded to estimate translation needs. Survey questions addressed preference of discharge instruction modality (verbal, printed, electronic), primary language spoken at home, ability to use English resources, and ability to use QR codes. Descriptive analyses were performed, and preferences were compared.
Of 117 caregivers approached, 104 completed the survey (89%). Caregivers had a strong preference for receiving written discharge instructions, with 98% desiring either electronic or printed resources in addition to verbal instructions. There was a similar likelihood of using printed (75%) versus electronic (79%) resources (p = 0.5). Three percent of families were unable to complete the survey due to a language barrier. Of the 104 participants, 19% noted that their primary language at home was not English but that they would still use English discharge instructions. Eighty percent of participants were able to successfully use the QR code.
Caregivers had a strong preference for receiving written discharge instructions, with electronic or paper formats preferred equally. Translated resources will be important for some families. QR codes may be an effective tool for distributing electronic resources to most but not all families.
在加拿大阿尔伯塔省的急诊部（ED）接受治疗的儿童中，约有 95%被送回家。出院教学是向照顾者提供他们在家中管理孩子病情所需信息并确保进行适当随访的机会。我们的 ED 缺乏标准的出院指导流程。为了准备当地的质量改进，我们希望通过评估照顾者对出院指导的偏好，了解他们对出院指导的偏好，包括首选格式、对翻译资源的需求以及使用快速响应（QR）码有效访问电子信息的能力。
该项目于 2021 年 7 月至 8 月在阿尔伯塔省卡尔加里的一家三级儿科 ED 进行。邀请儿科患者的照顾者完成一份调查。需要口译的家庭不符合条件；然而，这是记录下来的，以估计翻译需求。调查问题涉及出院指导模式（口头、书面、电子）、在家中使用的主要语言、使用英语资源的能力以及使用 QR 码的能力。进行了描述性分析，并比较了偏好。
在接受采访的 117 位照顾者中，有 104 位（89%）完成了调查。照顾者强烈希望收到书面出院指导，98%的人希望除口头指导外，还能获得电子或印刷资源。使用印刷资源（75%）与使用电子资源（79%）的可能性相似（p=0.5）。由于语言障碍，有 3%的家庭无法完成调查。在 104 名参与者中，19%的人表示他们在家中使用的主要语言不是英语，但他们仍将使用英语出院指导。80%的参与者能够成功使用 QR 码。
照顾者强烈希望收到书面出院指导，对电子或纸质格式的指导具有同等偏好。对于一些家庭来说，翻译资源将是重要的。QR 码可能是向大多数但不是所有家庭分发电子资源的有效工具。
