What Is Known About Family-Inclusive Inpatient Care From Patient and Family Perspectives? An Integrative Review.
Kim Ward, Lovely Dizon
PMID 40590475WHAT IT FOUND
Patients and families described culturally safe care, relationship building, and clear information as helping them feel included.
Culturally unsafe care, unwelcoming environments, inconsistent rules, and poor communication made them feel excluded. These are experiences, not proof any intervention works.
Key findings
01Family and patient experiences were helped by culturally safe care, staff understanding the need for family involvement, and effective communication.
02Experiences were harmed by culturally unsafe care, poor communication, and unsafe hospital environments.
03Poor communication was described as more common than effective communication, and families reported limited information about post-hospital care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This review identifies practices that help or hinder family inclusion, but it does not show that any practice improves patient outcomes. Most included studies were qualitative, and no solely quantitative papers met the criteria. Findings are centred on Māori patients and whānau in Aotearoa, with little evidence reported for other cultures. The search was limited to English papers published from 2000 to 2024, and relevant articles may exist in other databases. One included study was rated fair.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof that involving family improves clinical outcomes. The review synthesises patient and family experiences; it did not test an intervention or measure patient outcomes.