Jan 7, 2020

Insufficient home care the biggest challenge to overcome after being released from hospital, say Ontario patients and caregivers in new study

Quality and Innovation, Research, About DFCM
Assistant Professor Tara Kiran
By

Jennifer Stranges, St. Michael's Hospital

2017 HPTE Handbook.pdfPatients and caregivers from diverse backgrounds across Ontario consistently prioritized insufficient publicly-funded home care services as the gap in the health system that most needed to be addressed to improve their experience going home from hospital, according to research led by St. Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto.

The research, publishing on Jan. 6, 2020 in BMJ Quality and Safety, focused on understanding patient and caregiver priorities for improvement during the hospital-to-home transition and is based on input from over 700 participants over the course of 11 months in 2018.

The top three gaps in the system identified by patients and caregivers all related to home care services. Patients and caregivers reported not enough home care to meet the need, that home care support was not in place when patients arrived home from the hospital, and that they had to advocate for themselves to get enough home care. Other priorities related to being involved in discharge planning and once home, having a number to call if there was a problem.

Continue reading on St. Michael's Hospital's website >>