Investigation on the quality of life and demands of family members of patients with mental disorders in hospice care

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate the quality of life and demands of family members of patients with mental disorders in hospice care， in order to create a better medical care environment for patients to meet their demands.MethodsA total of 205 family members of patients with mental disorders in hospice care were consecutively sampled from two special psychiatric hospitals in Deyang city with convenient sampling method. The Chinese version of WHO Quality of Life-BREF （WHOQOL-BREF） and Critical Care Family Needs Inventory （CCFNI） were used to assess the quality of life and demands of family members.ResultsAmong the patients' family members， WHOQOL-BREF scored （68.08±9.98） in the physiological field， （63.82±9.39） in the psychological field， （70.73±12.61） in the social relations field， and （64.24±11.87） in the environmental field. Compared with the domestic general population， there were significant differences in other fields except the physiological field （t=3.066， 9.845， 16.109， P<0.01）. In CCFNI， the score of condition assurance factor was （3.20±0.41）， information support was （2.86±0.50）， proximity to patients was （2.79±0.46）， self comfort was （2.35±0.47）， and medical staff support was （2.60±0.44）.ConclusionThe quality of life of the family members of patients with mental disorders in hospice care may be higher than that of the general population， and their demands mainly focus on the condition assurance and information support.

Keywords

• hospice care
• mental disorders
• family members
• quality of life
• demands