← Publications

Publication

Drivers that decrease hospital-delivered care in children with medical complexity: Parental perspectives

Thibault L, Bourque C, Gaucher N, Marano M, Couture K, Saad L, Chartrand C, Fregeau S, Dore-Bergeron M, Fiscaletti M, Kleiber N · Paediatrics and Child Health (Canada) · 2024

CountryCanada

Background and objective: Children with medical complexity (CMC) have chronic and severe conditions leading to medical fragility. CMC represent less than 1% of children but account for one-third of paediatric healthcare expenditures. Enrollment to a complex care program (CCP) decreases health care resource utilization while improving parental satisfaction. An in-depth understanding of how these changes operate in real-world setting is needed to further support CMC and their families. This study aimed at assessing the possible reasons for a decrease in emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalization length of stay related to enrollment to a CCP, based on parental perspectives. Study design: Using a qualitative approach, data were collected using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with parents of CMC enrolled in a CCP from a university hospital centre in Montreal, Canada. The interview guide was co-constructed by an interdisciplinary team, including a parent partner and a clinical nurse coordinator. Themes have been identified inductively, using thematic analysis. Results: Parents identified personalized care, family empowerment and guidance as enablers arising from the CCP that contributed to the decrease in hospital-delivered care utilization. Improvement in medical baseline condition was also identified as a contributing factor, while not necessarily related to program's support. Conclusions: In this study, we identified personalized care, parental empowerment, and guidance as three strategies for a CCP to potentially decrease ED visits and hospital length of stay, from the parents' perspective. Parents identified the clinical nurse coordinator as playing a central role in supporting the implementation of these strategies. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Canadian Paediatric Society. All rights reserved.

DOI
10.1093/pch/pxad051

View publication ↗

Synced from the TRENDS in Pediatric Palliative Care Zotero library, curated by The Siden Research Team. ICPCN does not host or verify the full text.