Assessing the Effect of Sending a Condolence Letter to the Family of the Deceased in the Hospital on their Perception of the Performance of Medical and Service Staff of the Hospital
Iranian Journal of Emergency Medicine,
Vol. 8 No. 1 (2021),
23 November 2020
,
Page e39
https://doi.org/10.22037/ijem.v8i1.37124
Abstract
Introduction: The health care personnel showing sympathy with the family of the deceased is not only of moral value but may also affect the relatives’ overall perception of the quality of the performance of medical and service staff. This study aimed to investigate the effect of sending a condolence letter to the family of the deceased in the hospital on their perception of the performance of the medical and service staff of Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital. Methods: This interventional study was performed from October 2017 to March 2018 in Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Both experiment and control groups included families that lost their loved ones during the study period. A condolence letter was sent to the bereaved families included in the experiment group. Consequently, t-test was used to determine the difference between the experiment and control groups and SPSS software was used for final data analysis. Results: The level of satisfaction of the experiment group in comparison with the control group was considered as the basis for evaluating the effect of sending a condolence letter. There was a significant difference in the ratings of availability of nurses and the compassionate behavior of the ward staff towards the patient between the groups (p-value <0.05). The mean scores of providing medical services when the patient felt pain and spending sufficient time with the patient showed differences, but the differences were not significant (p-value = 0.06). Also, difference was observed between mean scores in the categories of proper description of the patient's condition, treatment process and provision of appropriate treatment for reducing pain, provision of sufficient explanation by the physician, and provision of the possibility of family members visiting the patient by the ward. For all variables in which the results were significantly different, men had a higher satisfaction score than women. Conclusion: Presence of a better and stronger relationship between doctors and medical staff with patients and their companions plays a more important role than sending a condolence letter in their family's perception of the hospital's medical performance and services. A condolence letter can be complementary to this process, but as the results of the present study showed, sending a condolence messages alone is not effective.
- Condolence letter
- Bereavement
- Death
How to Cite
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