Differences in family caregiver outcomes by their level of involvement in discharge planning

Family caregivers play vital roles in assisting elders after they are relea sed from the hospital. Although health care professionals advocate involvin g family caregivers in discharge planning for elders, little is known about the extent to which this involvement benefits or jeopardizes the caregiver 's health and their perceptions of the caregiving experience. The purpose o f this study was to determine whether the level of family caregiver involve ment in discharge planning for an elder made a difference in caregiver heal th, discharge planning satisfaction, perception of care continuity, prepare dness to assist the elder, and acceptance of the caregiving role 2 weeks an d 2 months postdischarge. The sample consisted of 130 family caregivers for elders hospitalized with heart failure. Telephone inter-views were conduct ed 2 weeks and 2 months postdischarge. The findings indicated that family c aregivers who reported more involvement in discharge planning had significa ntly higher scores on satisfaction, feelings of preparedness, and perceptio n of care continuity 2 weeks following the elder's hospitalization than tho se who reported little or no involvement in planning. Caregivers who report ed more involvement in planning also were more accepting of the caregiving role. At 2 months postdischarge, caregivers who reported more involvement i n discharge planning reported better health and more acceptance of the care giving role than those who had little or no involvement in planning. Copyri ght (C) 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company.