Patient and caregiver experience with delayed discharge from a hospital setting: A scoping review
Background Delayed hospital discharge occurs when patients are medically cleared but remain hospitalized because a suitable care setting is not available. Delayed discharge typically results in reduced levels of treatment, placing patients at risk of functional decline, falls and hospital‐related ad...
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Published in | Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy Vol. 22; no. 5; pp. 863 - 873 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
01.10.2019
John Wiley and Sons Inc Wiley |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background
Delayed hospital discharge occurs when patients are medically cleared but remain hospitalized because a suitable care setting is not available. Delayed discharge typically results in reduced levels of treatment, placing patients at risk of functional decline, falls and hospital‐related adverse events. Caregivers often take on an active role in hospital to mitigate these risks.
Objective
This scoping review aimed to summarize the literature on patient and caregiver experiences with delayed hospital discharge.
Search strategy
Seven electronic databases and grey literature were searched using keywords including alternate level of care, delayed discharge, patients, caregivers and experiences.
Inclusion criteria
Included articles met the following criteria: (a) patient or caregiver population 18 years or older; (b) delayed discharge from a hospital setting; (c) included experiences with delayed discharge; (d) peer‐reviewed or grey literature; and (e) published between 1 January 1998 and 16 July 2018.
Data extraction
Data were extracted from the seven included articles using Microsoft Excel 2016 to facilitate a thorough analysis and comparison.
Main results
Study themes were grouped into five elements of the delayed discharge experience: (1) overall uncertainty; (2) impact of hospital staff and physical environment; (3) mental and physical deterioration; (4) lack of engagement in decision making and need for advocacy; and (5) initial disbelief sometimes followed by reluctant acceptance.
Conclusion
This review provides a foundation to guide future research, policies and practices to improve patient and caregiver experiences with delayed hospital discharge, including enhanced communication with patients and families and programmes to reduce deconditioning. |
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Bibliography: | Funding information Data Availability Statement Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study. The research was supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (#368731 and #157054), as well as the Health System Performance Research Network which receives funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long‐Term Care Health Services Research Fund (#06034) and the Ontario Strategy for Patient‐Oriented Research (SPOR) Support Unit. Dr. Guilcher is supported by a Canadian Institutes for Health Research Embedded Clinician Scientist Salary Award on Transitions of Care (2016‐2020). ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 Data Availability Statement: Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study. |
ISSN: | 1369-6513 1369-7625 |
DOI: | 10.1111/hex.12916 |