Family’s Voice helping family or friends in the last days of life
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Family’s Voice: a Diary to Improve Communication during End of Life Care
IRAS ID
125956
Contact name
Mel McEvoy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust
Research summary
The purpose of this research is test whether the Family’s Voice diary which has been successfully introduce in one NHS Trust is transferable to other hospitals. The Family’s Voice is a diary for family and friends of those patients on the Liverpool Care Pathway or in the last few days of life. The Family’s Voice (diary)is intended to improve communication between relatives and health professionals and serve as a continuous documented observation by relatives of the quality of care provided to the patient and themselves during end of life care.
Objectives
1. To collaborate with other trusts in introducing the Family’s Voice into
their clinical areas.
2. To develop engagement and collaborative practice between health professionals and family/friends in the care of dying patients.
3. To empower family/friends to deal with specific difficulties at the time
of occurrence.
4. To better prepare and involve family/friends in end of life care.
5. To provide quantifiable data for ward managers and palliative care teams that can measure the quality of care achieved in the last days of life from the family or friend’s perspective.
6. To contribute to the effective delivery of end of life care in an acute setting.Aims
• To achieve a ‘good death’ experience for patients, their families and friends.
• To improve communication between family/friends and the ward team
• To give family/friends an active role in the care of the patient
• To provide immediate feedback to the ward team from the family/friends perspective at a stressful time
• To provide feedback to the palliative care team during end of lifeOutcomes
• To have a clinically tested tool validated by differing health organisations
• To provide a clear ‘shared objective’ standard of care for the last days of life
• To contribute to the development and maintenance of a collaborative clinical culture based on effective communication.
• To promote the opportunity for greater collaboration between family/ friends and health professionals at a critically emotional time.
• To provide an opportunity for family/friends to have a sense of purpose in the last days of their relative or friend’s life
• To have a beneficial impact on the early stages of bereavement
• To highlight areas of good and poor practice that will inform clinical education and practice development initiatives
• To provide valid and reliable data that will measure and influence practice development
• To achieve a greater shared understanding around the perception of need and goals for both family/friends and the ward team
• To be a useful tool for measuring clinical outcomes
• To be an ongoing mechanism of feedback for both clinical staff and familiesREC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/YH/0231
Date of REC Opinion
18 Jul 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion