Family involvement in timely detection of changes in health of nursing homes residents: A qualitative exploratory study.

The sample was self-selected and probably included only family members already involved in care, so it may miss relatives who are less engaged. All participants were adult children; spouses, partners and other relatives were not represented, and they may have different roles or preferences. All interviewees were white British and only two were male, so the findings may not reflect other family backgrounds or experiences. Every participant visited the nursing home at least once every two weeks, so the study says little about less frequent visitors. The study explored family perspectives and did not measure residents' health outcomes or hospital admissions, so it cannot show that family involvement reduced avoidable admissions. It was done in UK nursing homes with registered nurses on site, so it may not apply to care homes without nurses or other countries.

The study was funded by a National Institute for Health Research Programme Grant for Applied Research (RP-PG-0612-20010). The authors state they are not aware of any conflict of interest, and the publication notes that views expressed are not necessarily those of the NHS, NIHR or Department of Health.

Do not conclude that involving family members reduces avoidable hospital admissions. This study asked 14 family members about their experiences and did not measure residents' health outcomes or admissions, so it cannot show that timely detection improved health or prevented hospitalisation.