RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility and patient acceptance of a personalized interdisciplinary audiovisual record to facilitate effective communication with patients, family, carers and other healthcare workers at hospital discharge. DESIGN: Descriptive pilot study utilizing a study-specific patient feedback questionnaire conducted from October 2013 to June 2014. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Twenty General Medical inpatients being discharged from an Acute General Medical Ward in a metropolitan teaching hospital. INTERVENTION: Audiovisual record of a CareTV filmed at the patient's bedside by a consultant-led interdisciplinary team, within 24 h prior to discharge from the ward, provided immediately for the patient to take home. Patient surveys were completed within 2 weeks of discharge. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Technical quality, utilization, acceptability, patient satisfaction and recall of diagnosis, medication changes and post-discharge review arrangements. RESULTS: All patients had watched their CareTV either alone or in the presence of a variety of others: close family, their GP, a medical specialist, friends or other health personnel. Participating patients had good understanding of the video content and recall of their diagnosis, medication changes and post-discharge plans. Patient feedback was overwhelmingly positive. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of a General Medical Unit with extensive experience in interdisciplinary bedside rounding and teamwork, CareTV is simple to implement, inexpensive, technically feasible, requires minimal staff training and is acceptable to patients. The results of this pilot study will inform and indicate the feasibility of conducting a larger randomized control trial of the impact of CareTV on patient satisfaction, medication adherence and recall of key information, and primary healthcare provider satisfaction.