Introduction:
Health systems are striving to design and deliver care that is ‘person
centred’—aligned with the needs and preferences of those
receiving it; however, it is unclear what older people and their caregivers
value in their care. This paper captures attributes of care that are
important to older people and their caregivers.
Methods:
This qualitative descriptive study entailed 1–1 interviews with older
adults with multimorbidity receiving community based primary health care in
Canada and New Zealand and caregivers. Data were analyzed to identify core
attributes of care, important to participants.
Findings:
Feeling heard, appreciated and comfortable; having someone to count on;
easily accessing health and social care; knowing how to manage health and
what to expect; feeling safe; and being independent were valued. Each
attribute had several characteristics including: being treated like a
friend; having contact information of a responsive provider; being
accompanied to medical and social activities; being given clear treatment
options including what to expect; having homes adapted to support
limitations and having the opportunity to participate in meaningful
hobbies.
Conclusions:
Attributes of good care extend beyond disease management. While our findings
include activities that characterize these attributes, further research on
implementation barriers and facilitators is required.
BackgroundThere is growing reliance on unpaid caregivers to provide support to people with care needs. Integrated care approaches that aim to coordinate primary care with community care known as community based primary health care (CBPHC) has been a key policy initiative across health systems; however most attention has been paid to the needs of patients and not caregivers. The objective of this paper was to explore the unmet needs of caregivers of older adults with complex care needs receiving CBPHC.MethodsThis qualitative descriptive study entailed one-to-one interviews with 80 caregivers from Canada and New Zealand where roles, experiences and needs were explored. Interview text related to unmet need was reviewed inductively and core themes identified.ResultsThree themes were identified across CBPHC sites: unrecognized role; lack of personal resources; and no breaks even when services are in place.ConclusionsTo support caregivers, models of care such as CBPHC need to look beyond the patient to meaningfully engage caregivers, address their needs and recognize the insight they hold. This knowledge needs to be valued as a key source of evidence to inform developments in health and social care.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-018-0962-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.