Perception of informal caregivers on planning for the discharge of hospitalised elderly patients

Abstract

Understanding the perception of the Informal Caregivers (IC) about the planning of the discharge of hospitalised elderly patients with dependency, allows Nurses to identify their needs and to help them more effectively so as to provide care at home. Thus, it is intended to know the perception of the informal caregivers about the planning of hospital discharge of the elderly patients and to analyse determinant variables in that sense. The study is quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational, using a non-probabilistic sample for convenience, consisting of 41 ICs of elderly patients hospitalised in a Hospital Centre of Southern Portugal. A questionnaire was used for sociodemographic and clinical characterization, as well as the scales of Barthel, Hospital Anxiety and Depression and Planning of the Discharge (PREPARED). 73.17% of the ICs were female, married (78%), professionally active (62.7%), children of elderly parents (52.2%) and with a mean age of 78.78 years. The majority (82.9%) resides with the elderly patient and provides care between 3 and 6 months (58.5%). The perception of the ICs in the planning of discharge is positive (65.9%), especially in daily living activities. However, they feel that they are not adequately trained. The presence of the formal network support significantly influences the perception in the planning of discharge (p=0.000), in which gender, the family household and the degree of dependence are predictive variables of perception (p=0.000). Results show the importance of a better discharge preparation on behalf of the Nurses to the IC, in order to provide a better integration of the elderly patient in the family and the search for a better quality for the elderly and caregivers.