Clinical

Maintaining person-centred care in hospitals during restrictions on family presence

Why you should read this article:

To recognise the importance of providing person-centred care to patients and their families

To learn about how one hospital maintained and developed person-centred care practices during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

To consider strategies you could use in your area of practice to support communication and collaboration between patients, families and the healthcare team

 

Providing person-centred care to hospitalised patients and their families can be challenging in the context of restrictions on visiting, such as those widely implemented in healthcare settings during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In the US, several strategies have been deployed to work around the restrictions on family presence in hospitals, most of which focused on communication between the patient and family, and collaboration between the family and the healthcare team. Sharp Memorial Hospital, an acute care hospital in San Diego CA, US, was determined to maintain its person-centred care practices during the pandemic. A Family Resource Centre started operating in March 2020 with the aim of enabling hospitalised patients and their families to connect in a safe manner. This article describes this innovative approach to maintaining person-centred care in hospital during restrictions on family presence.

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