RESUMO
Preparedness to provide care in relation to the satisfaction with hospital discharge planning and level of knowledge of relatives to elderly patients Abstract. BACKGROUND: Relatives are a great resource for older people who are discharged after hospitalization. Studies have so far shown very little about the readiness of relatives to aid in caregiving. AIM: The study examined if relatives showed a relationship between readiness to provide care and satisfaction with hospital discharge management as well as group differences between well-informed and less informed relatives. METHOD: In addition to demographic data, the preparedness to provide care, satisfaction and extent of knowledge of relatives were surveyed using a retrospective cross-sectional study. Analyses were made of the relationship between preparedness to provide care and satisfaction with hospital discharge management, as well as group differences between informed and less informed relatives in terms of their preparedness to provide care. RESULTS: Of the 111 relatives, the majority were adult offspring (55.9 %) and partners (32.4 %) that participated in the study. A weak correlation was detected between the satisfaction with the hospital discharge planning of relatives and their willingness to provide care (rs = -0.113, p = 0.267). The group differences between well-informed and less informed relatives were significant (t(102) = 2.301, p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: Relatives that evaluated themselves as well informed are more likely to be in the position to provide informal care. Therefore, it is necessary to involve relatives more in the planning of hospital discharges and to inform them better. Experimental studies are necessary to find out if the preparedness to provide care can be increased through good discharge planning and specific information provision.