Patient- and family-centred care – satisfaction with care as an indicator of health care quality

Abstract

Patient- and family-centred care is achieved through everyday communication with parents and their children. Communication consists of informing, educating, providing psychological support and psychological preparation for medical procedures and surgery. Patient- and family-centred care provides faster and better adaptation and reduces illness and procedure-related stress. The aim of this study was to assess the satisfaction of parents and patients with health care provided at the Division of Paediatric Surgery, Zagreb University Hospital Centre. This was a prospective single-centre study. Patients and parents filled out a questionnaire designed for this research. The questionnaire assessed the satisfaction of patients and families during a hospital stay. Parents and children answered open-ended questions anonymously before discharge. During processing and interpretation of the results, data were analysed and answers of the participants grouped according to their frequency. The study included 112 parents and 74 children. The results showed the patient- and family-centred provided at the Division of Paediatric Surgery to be one of the factors that contributed to the higher satisfaction rate of patients and their families, making it one of the indicators of the quality of medical care. In conclusion, the results of this analysis showed a high general satisfaction rate, high satisfaction regarding communication between medical staff and patients, hygiene, the environment of hospital premises and additional contents. Parents and children had different preferences regarding satisfaction during their hospital stay. Parents gave higher importance to communication with the staff, kindness, level of information and hygiene, whereas children appreciated additional contents and environment in hospital premises.