2022 Quality Summit ePosters (Non-CE) - General Quality Improvement-16. Measuring Family Engagement in Acute Cardiovascular Care

16. Measuring Family Engagement in Acute Cardiovascular Care

Pdf Summary

Family engagement in care is gaining recognition as an important goal in healthcare delivery. However, there is currently a lack of validated instruments to measure family engagement in the acute care setting, which hinders the ability to quantify the impact of interventions on improving engagement. To address this, a multidisciplinary team developed the FAMily Engagement measure (FAME) for the acute cardiology population.<br /><br />The FAME questionnaire consists of 12 items that capture various domains of family engagement, including family presence, needs, communication/education, decision-making, and contributing to care. It is scored on a five-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating greater engagement in care.<br /><br />A pilot testing of the questionnaire was conducted to assess its clinical sensibility. After each stage of testing, the questionnaire items were revised based on feedback from respondents. Ultimately, the FAME questionnaire was completed by 32 family members in the acute cardiovascular unit. The mean FAME score was 84.0%, with the highest scores seen in family visitation, overall perspective on engagement, and receiving information. The lowest scores were in being encouraged to participate in loved one's care and participating in shared decision-making.<br /><br />Measuring family engagement is crucial in understanding the impact of quality interventions on patient- and family-centered outcomes. Engaging families in care has the potential to improve patient, family, and healthcare resource outcomes. Further studies are needed to validate the FAME measure.

Keywords

Family engagement

Healthcare delivery

Validated instruments

Acute care setting

Interventions

FAMily Engagement measure

Acute cardiology population

Questionnaire

Likert scale

Clinical sensibility