Evaluating the provision of Further Enabling Care at Home (FECH+) for informal caregivers of older adults discharged home from hospital: protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial

Anne-Marie Hill; Rachael Moorin; Susan Slatyer; Christina Bryant; Keith Hill; Nicholas Waldron; Samar Aoun; Ami Kamdar; Laurie Grealish; Caroline Reberger; Cindy Jones; Mary Bronson; Max K Bulsara; Sean Maher; Tracey Claverie; Wendy Moyle

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046600

Evaluating the provision of Further Enabling Care at Home (FECH+) for informal caregivers of older adults discharged home from hospital: protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial

BMJ Open. 2021 Jun 21;11(6):e046600. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046600.

Authors

Anne-Marie Hill^{1

2}, Rachael Moorin³, Susan Slatyer⁴, Christina Bryant⁵, Keith Hill⁶, Nicholas Waldron⁷, Samar Aoun^{8

9}, Ami Kamdar¹⁰, Laurie Grealish^{11

12}, Caroline Reberger¹³, Cindy Jones^{14

15}, Mary Bronson¹⁶, Max K Bulsara¹⁷, Sean Maher¹³, Tracey Claverie¹¹, Wendy Moyle^{12

14}

Affiliations

¹ School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia Anne-Marie.Hill@curtin.edu.au.
² School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
³ School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
⁴ Discipline of School of Nursing, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia.
⁵ Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Rehabilitation Ageing and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Armadale Health Service, Armadale, Western Australia, Australia.
⁸ School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁹ Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of General Medicine, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
¹¹ Gold Coast Hospital and Health Services, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
¹² School of Nursing and Midwifery Nathan and Gold Coast, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
¹³ Department of Rehabilitation and Aged Care, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁴ Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
¹⁵ Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.
¹⁶ Medical Division, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁷ Institute for Health Research, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia.

Abstract

Introduction: There are personal and societal benefits from caregiving; however, caregiving can jeopardise caregivers' health. The Further Enabling Care at Home (FECH+) programme provides structured nurse support, through telephone outreach, to informal caregivers of older adults following discharge from acute hospital care to home. The trial aims to evaluate the efficacy of the FECH+ programme on caregivers' health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after care recipients' hospital discharge.

Methods and analysis: A multisite, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial with blinded baseline and outcome assessment and intention-to-treat analysis, adhering to Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines will be conducted. Participants (N=925 dyads) comprising informal home caregiver (18 years or older) and care recipient (70 years or older) will be recruited when the care recipient is discharged from hospital. Caregivers of patients discharged from wards in three hospitals in Australia (one in Western Australia and two in Queensland) are eligible for inclusion. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the two groups. The intervention group receive the FECH+ programme, which provides structured support and problem-solving for the caregiver after the care recipient's discharge, in addition to usual care. The control group receives usual care. The programme is delivered by a registered nurse and comprises six 30-45 min telephone support sessions over 6 months. The primary outcome is caregivers' HRQOL measured using the Assessment of Quality of Life-eight dimensions. Secondary outcomes include caregiver preparedness, strain and distress and use of healthcare services. Changes in HRQOL between groups will be compared using a mixed regression model that accounts for the correlation between repeated measurements.

Ethics and dissemination: Participants will provide written informed consent. Ethics approvals have been obtained from Sir Charles Gairdner and Osborne Park Health Care Group, Curtin University, Griffith University, Gold Coast Health Service and government health data linkage services. Findings will be disseminated through presentations, peer-reviewed journals and conferences.

Trial registration number: ACTRN12620000060943.

Keywords: geriatric medicine; internal medicine; quality in health care.

Publication types

Clinical Trial Protocol
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Australia
Caregivers*
Hospitals
Humans
Multicenter Studies as Topic
Patient Discharge*
Quality of Life
Queensland
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Western Australia

Associated data

ANZCTR/ACTRN12620000060943