Important needs of families in acute and palliative care settings assessed with the family inventory of needs.

To access Publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Link Family support has been recognized in the development of palliative care in Iceland, yet studies focusing on family needs are lacking. The aims of this study were to evaluate the perceived care ne...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palliative Medicine
Main Authors: Fridriksdottir, N, Sigurdardottir, V, Gunnarsdottir, S
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publications 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2336/6351
https://doi.org/10.1191/0269216306pm1148oa
Description
Summary:To access Publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Link Family support has been recognized in the development of palliative care in Iceland, yet studies focusing on family needs are lacking. The aims of this study were to evaluate the perceived care needs of family members of patients receiving palliative care, to what extent these needs were met, and whether needs differed based on background characteristics and site of care. Family members of 111 patients from acute and palliative care settings agreed to participate, and 67 (60%) completed the study. The Family Inventory of Needs was used to quantify family needs and to what extent they were met. All 20 needs measured were considered important. The number of needs did not differ by site of palliative care. Overall, health care professionals met 67% of needs. Needs were more likely to be met in specialized palliative care settings than on acute units and the needs of spouses were more likely to be met than others.