Literature Review On Family Centred Care

INTRODUCTION/ BACKGROUND

Over the past decades, various approaches to patient care have been adopted and implemented in the provision of both medical and nursing care in paediatrics. Approaches to care were adopted based on evidence supporting them at that time .The need to include and involve parents in the care of their sick children has increased over time.

Family centred care (FCC), is based in the mutually beneficial partnerships among health care providers, patients, and families. Family centred care is a move from where care for children was exclusively provided by health professionals and visitation by parents was either limited or completely not allowed (Harrison, 2010, Saleeba, 2008 and Shields 2012).

Studies have been done, more

This review will bring out the understanding of the concept (FCC) including its application and impact on outcomes. The review of literature will also bring out the gaps in the implementation of the concept which can be reduced through research, focusing on perceptions of parents on family centred care.

The author has used several sources to gather information for the literature review. These data bases include Bing, Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Hinari. The articles analysed are the ones within the period starting the year 2004 to present. This was done with a purpose to have a more recent and updated information on the concept of family centred care. The following terms were used in the searching: family, family centred care, family centered care, family involvement in child care, and family centred care in paediatrics in Malawi, Sub-Saharan Africa, role of parents in sick child care, patient centred care, history of family centred care, family centred care

Evidence does not support the emphasis in family-centred care research and practice on conceptualizing family-centred care as the shifting of care, care management, and advocacy responsibilities to families. Studies focused on Family perceptions based on satisfaction of expectations, reality and dedication of health workers towards implementation of the model of care (Kuo, 2012).

In Malawi, health facilities are characterized by shortage of staff. Most guardians are females with low literacy levels and that often conflict result due to overcrowding, lack of understanding of hospital regulations and lack of respect for parent role. Health workers do not have enough time for effective communication due inadequate numbers of staff, resulting in decreased implementation of family centred care principles. Reinforcing positive aspects of family involvement can help make staff more open to changes (Hoffman, 2012& Shields, 2012).