The impact of hospitalisation on a visiting family member : A case study and discussion

Evidence suggests that when an immediate family member of a spouse is hospitalised, the partner's risk of death significantly increases. Hospitalisation can represent a time of great vulnerability and imposed stress for both the patient and their family members. Family members have been reported to give priority to the welfare of their ill relative and in their heightened emotional state, often adversely put their own health at risk. The paper presents a case study highlighting how an intensive care hospitalisation and discharge to rehabilitation experience for a patient's mother triggered an episode of myocardial infarction for her adult son. Discussion focuses on the caregiving burden and potential mechanisms for how hospitalisation may contribute to the health risk of immediate family members of hospitalised patients. Discussion also highlights the importance of family members receiving clear, continuous and consistent information from a limited number of clinicians to help reduce the stress associated with caregiving during acute hospitalisation.