Latino families' experiences with family-centered rounds at an academic children's hospital

Abstract

Objective: To characterize Latino families' experiences with family-centered rounds at an academic children's hospital to identify areas for improvement.

Methods: Five focus groups of families of Latino children hospitalized on a general medical ward were conducted in Spanish by a single bilingual facilitator. Participants were recruited from a convenience sample of Spanish-speaking Latino family members present at the patients' bedside. Data were transcribed verbatim, content coded, and analyzed in Spanish for emergent themes.

Results: Twenty-eight Latino family members of 21 hospitalized children participated in the 5 focus groups. Most spoke only Spanish (75%), and Spanish was the preferred language of all focus group participants. Qualitative data analysis indicated that families reported positive experiences with rounds involving a Spanish-speaking provider. Thematic issues focused on family-physician communication problems, lack of family empowerment, family and provider participants for family-centered rounds, and cultural needs. Parents were dissatisfied with telephonic interpretation services and preferred a live interpreter in the absence of a fluent, bilingual physician. Many families did not feel empowered to request interpretation assistance or health information; parents often felt embarrassed as a result of their inability to understand the primary language (English) of the care providers. Some parents felt inhibited to express themselves in the presence of other family members. Addressing cultural needs (e.g., chaplain support) was appreciated by families.

Conclusions: Spanish-speaking Latino families are not consistently receiving optimal family-centered rounds. Different strategies are needed to fully engage and empower Latino families.