Families' Priorities In Life-limiting Illness: Improving Quality With Online Empowerment
Title
Families' Priorities In Life-limiting Illness: Improving Quality With Online Empowerment
Creator
Harris N; Beringer A; Fletcher M
Identifier
doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2015-308769
Publisher
Archives Of Disease In Childhood
Date
2016
Subject
Adolescent; Child; Child Preschool; Disabled Children/psychology; Family; Female; Hospice; Humans; Infant; Internet; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Palliative Care; Parents/psychology; Power (psychology); Quality Of Life/psychology; Social Support; Surveys And Questionnaires; United Kingdom; Young Adult
Child; Hospice; Outcome; Parents; Quality Of Life
Description
OBJECTIVE:
Improving quality of life (QOL) is the central focus of palliative care support for children with life-limiting illness (LLI), but achieving this can be challenging.
INTERVENTION:
MyQuality is an online tool that enables families to choose and monitor parameters they identify as having an impact on their QOL, which aims to improve patient-professional communications and also to enhance patient empowerment within healthcare dialogues.
DESIGN:
A longitudinal, multisite mixed-method evaluation of MyQuality. Families were invited to use MyQuality and completed semi-structured interviews and a Family Empowerment Scale (FES) at T=0 and T+3 months.
PATIENTS AND SETTING:
Thirty-two families of children with LLIs, attending three children's hospices in one UK region.
OUTCOME MEASURES:
Website access, usage patterns and parameter choice, FES scores and qualitative evaluation of interviews.
RESULTS:
23/32 families chose to use the website. Mean duration of use was 106 days (range 2-301), with families choosing two or three parameters (range 1-15), most commonly seizures (24/32), constipation (9/32), pain (6/32) and sleep problems (6/32). Mean FES scores increased over time (3.45-3.85). Interview feedback confirmed the acceptability and ease of use of the website, and the value of a graphic record of change over time to support ongoing management and collaborative review of medical, nursing or social interventions.
CONCLUSIONS:
The identification and monitoring of patient-generated priorities via the MyQuality website empowers families and supports collaboration between parents and professionals to ensure that palliative care is truly patient and family centred.
Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
Improving quality of life (QOL) is the central focus of palliative care support for children with life-limiting illness (LLI), but achieving this can be challenging.
INTERVENTION:
MyQuality is an online tool that enables families to choose and monitor parameters they identify as having an impact on their QOL, which aims to improve patient-professional communications and also to enhance patient empowerment within healthcare dialogues.
DESIGN:
A longitudinal, multisite mixed-method evaluation of MyQuality. Families were invited to use MyQuality and completed semi-structured interviews and a Family Empowerment Scale (FES) at T=0 and T+3 months.
PATIENTS AND SETTING:
Thirty-two families of children with LLIs, attending three children's hospices in one UK region.
OUTCOME MEASURES:
Website access, usage patterns and parameter choice, FES scores and qualitative evaluation of interviews.
RESULTS:
23/32 families chose to use the website. Mean duration of use was 106 days (range 2-301), with families choosing two or three parameters (range 1-15), most commonly seizures (24/32), constipation (9/32), pain (6/32) and sleep problems (6/32). Mean FES scores increased over time (3.45-3.85). Interview feedback confirmed the acceptability and ease of use of the website, and the value of a graphic record of change over time to support ongoing management and collaborative review of medical, nursing or social interventions.
CONCLUSIONS:
The identification and monitoring of patient-generated priorities via the MyQuality website empowers families and supports collaboration between parents and professionals to ensure that palliative care is truly patient and family centred.
Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/
Rights
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Citation List Month
July 2016 List
Citation
Harris N; Beringer A; Fletcher M, “Families' Priorities In Life-limiting Illness: Improving Quality With Online Empowerment,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed April 26, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/10517.