Engaging family caregivers with structured communication for safe care transitions: A Making Healthcare Safer rapid review

Objectives To summarize and assess the effectiveness of patient safety practices (PSPs) for engaging family caregivers with structured communication to improve care transitions safety. This review provides information for clinicians, health system leaders, and policymakers to better inform approaches to improve patient safety during care transitions. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library for eligible studies published in 2010 through 30 June 2023, and reviewed gray literature searches and reference lists of relevant systematic reviews. We used prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria to assess relevant studies. Findings We identified 323 unique records and assessed 86 full-text articles for possible inclusion. We included nine studies (two randomized controlled trials, six pre-post studies, and one single-arm study) which assessed PSPs focused on hospital discharge to home, transfers from intensive care units, and transitions from residential care to home. We found that PSPs for engaging family caregivers with structured communication improved caregiver satisfaction (low strength of evidence) in residential care transitions. For other outcomes, we rated the evidence as insufficient to permit conclusions. None of the studies reported rates of unintended harms. Conclusions There is little evidence on the effectiveness of PSPs using structured communication with family-caregivers to improve care transitions safety. One study showed improvement in caregiver satisfaction. More high-quality research is needed to assess the effectiveness of these PSPs and unintended harms.