Engagement of Lay Female Caregiver in Promoting Safety for Hospitalized Children at Public Hospitals, Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Hospitalized children are exposed to the risk of harm and adverse event during the hospital stays. They are defined as a vulnerable group of patients who need a representative for their role in health care services. Family caregiver engagement in promoting safety during a child's hospitalization is still unknown. This is the first empirical study in understanding their role to engage in promoting safety for hospitalized children under the Thai cultural context. The objective of this study aims to explore the engagement of lay female family caregivers to promote safety during the child’s hospital staying and to examine which factors relate to their engagement. A cross-sectional study was conducted with pediatric wards of a public hospital where are verified of healthcare quality accreditation (HA), Thailand. Lay caregivers were purposively sampled in August - October 2019 (n = 160), who was staying with children aged 3-7 years of hospitalized children and focused on females aged 35-60 years and their child has evaluated the length of stay at least 3 days with respiratory diseases. Developed questionnaire of family caregiver engagement in promoting safety for the child was employed to interview by face to face. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the final significant factors. The scores of family caregiver engagement in promoting safety for hospitalized children were assessed at a moderate level (mean = 3.62, SD=0.30). The safety-related behaviors were found at a low level in both challenges’ behaviors and factual behaviors. For example, reminding doctors or nurses to clean their hands, wearing a clean mask to prevent infection, observe the label on the container, and make sure doctors and nurses check the child’s wrist band before giving any medicine, test, or treatment. Educational level was found to be significantly associated with family caregiver engagement in multivariate analysis (p <0.05). Conclusion: This study suggested that there are opportunities for improvement in safety-related behavior. Therefore, health care providers should provide programs or tactics to raise their active engagement to promote safety for hospitalized children.