Association Between Residents' Perceived Importance of Family Involvement in Overall Care Planning and Rehabilitative Therapy Administration in Nursing Homes.
Syed Naqvi, Anthony P Nunes, Kate L Lapane
PMID 40456278WHAT IT FOUND
Nursing home residents who rated family involvement as very important received more physical and occupational therapy minutes than those who did not.
The difference was small, averaging 5 fewer minutes for those rating it somewhat important.
Key findings
01Residents who reported family involvement as 'Very Important' received the highest mean individual minutes of physical therapy (247 minutes) and occupational therapy (236 minutes), compared to lower minutes in groups valuing family involvement less.
02After adjusting for confounders, residents in the 'Somewhat Important' category received 5 fewer minutes of therapy compared to those in the 'Very Important' group.
03The clinical relevance of the observed differences in therapy minutes based on residents' perception of family involvement is unclear.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study design is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that family involvement causes increased therapy minutes. The exposure was based on resident preference for family involvement, not actual family participation, which may lead to misclassification. The difference in therapy minutes was small (5 minutes), and the authors state the clinical relevance of this difference is unclear. Residents with missing data were excluded, which could introduce selection bias. The study only included residents in nursing homes that provided PT/OT, limiting generalizability to facilities without these services.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the association between family involvement and therapy minutes as evidence that family presence causes better clinical outcomes or that therapy is withheld from residents without families due to negligence. The difference in minutes is small, the study is observational, and the authors explicitly state the clinical relevance is unclear.