Caregiver Experiences of Care Coordination for Recently Discharged Patients: A Qualitative Metasynthesis.
Catherine Callister, Jacqueline Jones, Shara Schroeder and 6 others
PMID 31585516WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers of recently discharged patients described not knowing whom to call, being left out of discharge decisions, lacking practical training, and feeling exhausted.
The themes describe caregiver-reported gaps. They are not evidence that any intervention works.
Key findings
01Caregivers described unclear access to clinicians after discharge, overwhelming medication and appointment tasks, inadequate discharge training, feeling disregarded, and little emotional support.
02One caregiver example showed a patient could not continue physical therapy because hospital and primary care clinicians disagreed about who should handle pain medication refills and follow-up.
03Discharge training was often described as inadequate for practical home care tasks, such as helping a patient with constipation after stroke or understanding insurance coverage for additional supplies.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The synthesis did not have access to original qualitative data, so interpretation depended on published reports. Clinician perspectives were not included, so the paper does not show how discharge teams understood the process. Caregivers who participated in the original studies may have had unusually positive or negative experiences, so themes may not represent typical caregivers. All included studies were English-language United States studies published from 2000 onward, so findings may not transfer to other health systems. The review included all studies regardless of critical appraisal results, so weaker studies were not excluded.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof that a hotline, discharge training package, or home health model improves care coordination. The paper synthesizes caregiver experiences from qualitative studies and does not test interventions or measure outcomes.