Caregiver experiences during their child's acute medical hospitalization for a mental health crisis.

Findings come from 14 caregivers at one freestanding children's hospital, so they may not match experiences in other hospitals, emergency departments, or psychiatric units. Only English-speaking legal guardians were included, so caregivers with limited English proficiency, foster parents, and other family structures are not represented. Six eligible caregivers declined, some because they were exhausted or it was not a good time, and some families were not approached because medical teams declined due to family stress or strained relationships, so the most distressed or conflict-affected families may be missing. The study describes what caregivers said they experienced and wanted; it did not test whether welcome sheets, in-person updates, amenity reminders, or support referrals improve caregiver stress or child outcomes. Coding began with themes from a prior study of boarding adolescents, which may have shaped what the researchers noticed in caregiver interviews.

The supplied article text does not state author conflicts of interest or funding; publication types indicate NIH extramural research support.

Do not read the suggested supports as proven fixes. This is a small qualitative study of 14 caregivers at one hospital, so it reports what caregivers wanted and experienced, not what was shown to reduce distress or improve care.