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Family-Managed Home Care in Ontario for Families with Technology-Dependent Children / Family-Managed Home Care

Background: Advances in technology have led to an increasing number of CMC-technology dependent children being discharged from hospital to their home communities. Families with CMC-technology dependent children require home care nursing services established prior to discharge. The Family-Managed Home Care model is used by some families to acquire these nursing services.
Aim: The study purpose was to explore how families with CMC-technology dependent children describe their use of and experiences with using the Family-Managed Home Care model to coordinate nursing care.
Methods: Thorne’s interpretive description method was used. Virtual, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine parents of CMC-technology dependent children. Data was analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: Parents of CMC-technology dependent children using the Family-Managed Home Care model became their child’s care manager. The process of managing the child’s care occurs in three interrelated and overlapping phases: (1) transitioning home, (2) building the home care team, and (3) partnering to provide care. Control was identified as a central concept that underpinned each step in the overarching process of managing the child’s care. Parents value the control provided by the Family-Managed Home Care model as this alleviated some stress, anxiety, and uncertainty in caring for a CMC-technology dependent child at home.
Conclusion: Parents using this model of home care require enhanced support from LHINs and health care providers. Increasing health care provider knowledge of the Family-Managed Home Care model is needed to further support parents. Improved organization of discharges and policy changes are needed. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Family-Managed Home Care is a self-directed home care model parents of children with medical complexities that are technology dependent (CMC-technology dependent children) utilize to implement home care nursing services. The consistent presence of home care nurses is vital to preserve family functioning and ensure the safety of the CMC-technology dependent child. This study’s purpose was to understand how parents of CMC-technology dependent children use and describe their experiences of coordinating nursing care under the Family-Managed Home Care model. Nine parents were interviewed. Findings indicated that in the process of managing the child’s care (1) transitioning home is overwhelming, (2) parents take on the role of becoming their child’s care manager, (3) parental control is a valuable aspect of using Family-Managed Home Care, and (4) enhanced support is needed for parents using this home care model. Findings can be used to improve support for families using the Family-Managed Home Care model.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/27435
Date January 2022
CreatorsFulton, Andrea
ContributorsButt, Michelle, Jack, Susan, Carter, Nancy, Nursing
Source SetsMcMaster University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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