When caregivers are included in the discharge of elderly patients, readmission rates can be reduced by 25 percent, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Health Policy Institute and funded by the Stern Family Foundation and the Emily Kelly Roseburgh Memorial Fund of the Pittsburgh Foundation, the study was the first to examine the impact of integrating caregivers into a patient's discharge plan.

Informal caregivers, especially with elderly family members, provide essential care and support needed to maintain a high quality of life for such patients. According to the researchers, these informal caregivers provide 80 percent of all community-based long-term care for older patients, making them crucial after discharge.

"While integrating informal caregivers into the patient discharge process may require additional efforts to identify and educate a patient's family member, it is likely to pay dividends through improved patient outcomes and helping providers avoid economic penalties for patient readmissions," said senior author A. Everette James, JD, MBA, director of Pitt's Health Policy Institute and its Stern Center for Evidence-Based Policy.

They study analyzed 10,715 scientific publications and ultimately focused on the 15 related to trials examining the influence of discharge planning on readmission rates. Covering 4,361 patients averaging 70 years in age, the study found the inclusion of informal caregivers in the discharge process reduced the 90-day readmission by 25 percent and 180-day readmission by 24 percent.

"Due to medical advances, shorter hospital stays and the expansion of home care technology, caregivers are taking on considerable care responsibilities for patients," said lead author Juleen Rodakowski, OTD, MS, assistant professor in Pitt's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. "This includes increasingly complex treatment, such as wound care, managing medications and operating specialized medical equipment. With proper training and support, caregivers are more likely to be able to fulfill these responsibilities and keep their loved ones from having to return to the hospital."