Is the Active Involvement of Family Caregivers in Adult Hospital Care Effective to Improve Patient Outcomes? - A Systematic Review

Sep 30, 2026

Investigates whether active involvement of family caregivers in adult in-hospital care improves patient outcomes. Addresses effects on readmissions, complications, mortality, length of stay, quality of life, psychological distress, activities of daily living, and satisfaction of patients, healthcare professionals, and family caregivers. Follows PRISMA 2020 using prospective controlled studies from multiple databases up to February 2024, yielding 13 included studies with high clinical and methodological heterogeneity.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Aim

Design

Data sources

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Implications for patient care

Impact

Introduction

Journal of Clinical Nursing SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OPEN ACCESS Is the Active Involvement of Family Caregivers in Adult Hospital Care Effective to Improve Patient Outcomes? A Systematic Review Daphne Bloemberg1,2,3,4 | Mark L. van Zuylen2 | Selma C. W. Musters1,3,4 | Demi de Jong1,3,4 | Anne Marthe Schreuder1 | Faridi S. Jamaludin5 | Benedikt Preckel2 | Els Nieveen van Dijkum1,4 | Anne M. Eskes1,3,4,6,7 1Department of Surgery, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands | 2Department of Anaesthesiology, Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands | 3Department of Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands | 4Cancer Center Amsterdam, Treatment and quality of Life, Amsterdam, the Netherlands | 5Amsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam, Medical Library AMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands | 6Menzies Health Institute Queensland and School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia | 7Faculty of Health, Center of Expertise Urban Vitality, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Correspondence: Daphne Bloemberg ([d.bloemberg@amsterdamumc.nl](d.bloemberg@amsterdamumc.nl)) Received: 22 May 2024 | Revised: 9 December 2024 | Accepted: 23 July 2025 Funding: This work was supported by an unrestricted innovation grant of the Amsterdam UMC, the Netherlands. The funder had no influence in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data; in the writing of the report; and the decision to submit the paper for publication. Keywords: family-centred care | inpatients | length of stay | quality of life | systematic review ABSTRACT Aim: To investigate the effects of active involvement of family caregivers in adult in-hospital care on patients' readmissions, complications, mortality, length of hospital stay, quality of life, psychological distress and activities of daily living, as well as on the satisfaction of patients, HCPs and family caregivers. Design: Systematic review. Data Sources: Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase, EBSCO CINAHL, Cochrane Library (from inception to February 2024) . Methods: The PRISMA 2020 statement was followed. Prospective controlled studies focusing on active involvement of family caregivers in adult in-hospital care were included. Two independent teams of authors conducted study selection, quality assessment and data extraction. Results: Thirteen studies were included, comprising 11 randomised controlled trials. The clinical and methodological heterogeneity precluded a meta-analysis. Six of these studies were performed in stroke patients. Some studies reported statistically significant benefits of active family involvement on readmission rates, hospital LOS, ADL, psychological distress for patients and family members, QoL and satisfaction of family caregivers. However, others did not observe differences in these outcomes. For complication rates, mortality and satisfaction of patients and HCPs, no studies demonstrated significant differences between groups. Conclusion: Further research is needed to provide a conclusive answer as to whether active family caregiver involvement improves outcomes of adult hospitalised patients. Implications for Patient Care: Despite the inconclusive findings of this review, advocating for active involvement of family caregivers in adult in-hospital care fits the perspective of patient-and family-centred care. Impact: As the care of hospitalised adults is shifting to a more family-centric approach, investigating the effects of an active role of family caregivers in adult in-hospital care is necessary. However, the small number of studies available and This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium

FAQs

What question does this systematic review address?

It examines whether active involvement of family caregivers in adult in-hospital care improves patient outcomes such as readmissions, complications, mortality, length of stay, quality of life, psychological distress, and activities of daily living, as well as satisfaction.

How were studies selected and assessed?

The review followed PRISMA 2020 and included prospective controlled studies. Two independent author teams conducted study selection, quality assessment, and data extraction.

What were the overall findings across included studies?

Thirteen studies were included, mostly randomized controlled trials, but heterogeneity prevented meta-analysis. Some studies reported statistically significant benefits for several outcomes, while others found no differences.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by CatatanPagi