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Partners in Care

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Timna Genosar

Operational framework of family caregivers during hospitalization in internal ward

In an ongoing reality of human resources shortage in Israeli hospitals, it is hugely important to have someone present next to the patients’ bed throughout the hospitalization period. Many hospitals recommend to patients not to stay alone, even if they are normally independent, as members of their family can help the overworked staff. In this situation, family members turn from visitors to active participants. However, despite the desire to involve family members in the therapeutic process, it appears that their role is not clear to them, to the patients or to the ward staff. 

In the course of this project, carried out jointly with the Edith Wolfson Medical Center, interviews were conducted with family members supporting patients during their hospitalization in an internal ward. The interviews indicated that the hospitalization period was a complex situation characterized by stress and uncertainty. The family members perform several duties: managing the treatment, providing emotional support, and helping with physical care (eating, drinking, bathing, moving). However, they do so without any advance preparation and without knowing the ward staff, the professional language, and the ward’s rules and procedures. This results in multiple gaps between the family and staff regarding the former’s role, leading in turn to conflicts affecting the quality and safety of treatment. 

This project proposes to recognize the role of supporting family members as care partners through an “onboarding” process. This process defines a framework for the shared work of the family members and the ward staff during the hospitalization, facilitates participation in care in a way that is tailored to the family’s characteristics and the patient’s medical condition, and promotes information sharing and certainty-raising activities.

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Timna Genosar

Training manager and service designer. Extensive experience in R&D for training programs at the Israeli Air Force and government programs in the employment area at JDC-Israel. Currently leads the Sderot Municipality Innovation Team as part of HAZIRA Program- Innovating in Local Government. BA in social science and MA in sociology and anthropology, Bar-Ilan University. M.des in Industrial Design, Design & Innovation Management Track, Bezalel.

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