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Comparative Study
. 2014 Dec;62(12):2398-407.
doi: 10.1111/jgs.13139. Epub 2014 Dec 8.

Testing a family-centered intervention to promote functional and cognitive recovery in hospitalized older adults

Marie Boltz  1 , Barbara Resnick, Tracy Chippendale, James Galvin
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Testing a family-centered intervention to promote functional and cognitive recovery in hospitalized older adults

Marie Boltz et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

A comparative trial using a repeated-measures design was designed to evaluate the feasibility and outcomes of the Family-Centered Function-Focused-Care (Fam-FFC) intervention, which is intended to promote functional recovery in hospitalized older adults. A family-centered resource nurse and a facility champion implemented a three-component intervention (environmental assessment and modification, staff education, individual and family education and partnership in care planning with follow-up after hospitalization for an acute illness). Control units were exposed to function-focused-care education only. Ninety-seven dyads of medical patients aged 65 and older and family caregivers (FCGs) were recruited from three medical units of a community teaching hospital. Fifty-three percent of patients were female, 89% were white, 51% were married, and 40% were widowed, and they had a mean age of 80.8 ± 7.5. Seventy-eight percent of FCGs were married, 34% were daughters, 31% were female spouses or partners, and 38% were aged 46 to 65. Patient outcomes included functional outcomes (activities of daily living (ADLs), walking performance, gait, balance) and delirium severity and duration. FCG outcomes included preparedness for caregiving, anxiety, depression, role strain, and mutuality. The intervention group demonstrated less severity and shorter duration of delirium and better ADL and walking performance but not better gait and balance performance than the control group. FCGs who participated in Fam-FFC showed a significant increase in preparedness for caregiving and a decrease in anxiety and depression from admission to 2 months after discharge but no significant differences in strain or quality of the relationship with the care recipient from FCGs in the control group. Fam-FFC is feasible and has the potential to improve outcomes for hospitalized older adults and their caregivers.

Keywords: family centered; function-focused care; transitions.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: Dr. Galvin has served as a consultant for Pfizer, Novartis, Forest, Eisai, Accera, Avanir, and Baxter. He shares the copyright for the AD8 dementia screening test and has licensing agreements with Pfizer, Novartis, and Eisai. This activity is not related to this study.

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